EXCLUSIVE: The BBC’s most famous fringe is coming to a sofa near you.
Deadline can reveal that The Claudia Winkleman Show has been officially commissioned and will launch next spring. The news comes three days before the fourth season of the Winkleman-hosted The Traitors launches.
Winkleman, who is enjoying quite the purple patch after a 30-year career, will front the seven-episode primetime BBC talk show that will “welcome the biggest names from the worlds of film, television, music and beyond to her sofa for lively conversation with the help of a studio audience,” the BBC said. Broadcast information and guests will be revealed “in due course.”
The Claudia Winkleman Show will debut on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in spring 2026. We revealed that the long-gestating chat show was being produced by The Graham Norton Show maker So Television and Winkleman’s Little Owl production outfit in October. Those plans, we understand, will see Winkleman’s series broadcast when The Graham Norton Show is off-air in the spring, meaning there will be no clashes between the shows and they will not be competing for guests. The BBC recently renewed The Graham Norton Show for another three years, while its recent run of episodes has boasted eye-catching bookings including Taylor Swift. Winkleman earned her chat show stripes by stepping in for Norton earlier this year when the Irish presenter was on a break from his BBC duties. ITV Studios-backed So Television has made more than 550 episodes of his Friday night talk show since 2007.
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“Claudia is a true national treasure – warm, witty and endlessly entertaining,” said BBC commissioning editor Kalpna Patel-Knight. “She has an extraordinary ability to put people at ease and bring out the very best in them, whether they’re global superstars or members of the audience.”
Winkleman’s star has soared since hosting the first season of The Traitors in 2022 and its celebrity spin-off several weeks back. She also fronts Channel 4’s The Piano, while she presented BBC Radio 2’s Saturday morning breakfast show until last year. She will have more time on her hands, however, now that she has presented her final episode of Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC Saturday night juggernaut that she has fronted with Tess Daly since 2010.
The latest civilian season of The Traitors is set to launch on New Year’s Day (January 1, 2026). Winkleman has been in the press overnight teasing “truly extraordinary” twists and “hardcore” round tables for the murder mystery reality series, with a red-cloaked figure keeping fans guessing.
Winkleman said: “I can’t quite believe it and I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity. I’m obviously going to be awful, that goes without saying, but I’m over the moon they’re letting me try.”
So Television Managing Director Graham Stuart added: “Graham Norton has made the Friday night talk show slot a dazzling appointment to view. How can you possibly follow that? By booking a host equally as brilliant. So we have.”
Executive producers on The Claudia Winkleman Show are Stuart and Ruth Phillips. Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at the BBC, commissioned and the commissioning editor is Neil McCallum. ITV Studios is selling The Claudia Winkleman Show around the world.