Jason Manford has defended his Starstruck co-star Sheridan Smith after she received backlash from fans.
A handful of moaning viewers pointed out the 40-year-old actress has been dominating television in recent weeks - but her good pal and comedian Jason has slammed bitter fans as he praised her for all the work she has been doing.
On Twitter, he penned: "Seen a few comments about Sheridan being on TV a lot this week.
"It’s not sommat she’s in charge of, she would’ve filmed those 3 excellent shows last year & some scheduler decided they went on this week.
"So chill out, also she's excellent & you're lucky to have her."
It comes after some viewers of Starstruck made tweets about Sheridan as she appeared on the show over the weekend.
The TV star has been fronting several big dramas at the moment - including Four Lives, The Teacher and No Return.
"Gosh this Sheridan Smith is everywhere on British TV at the moment."
Another said: "She's on literally every channel at the moment and I'm here for it @Sheridansmith1."
A third added: "@Sheridansmith1 thought I might have been all Sheridaned out after "Four Lives" and "The teacher" which were both awesome BTW but just finished watching "No Return" what a brilliant actress you are, such heartfelt and emotional scenes, keep up the good work."
Viewers who tuned in to watch the show over the weekend slammed the new singing competition as they compared it unfavourably to 90s talent show Stars in Their Eyes.
The show sees contestants become extraordinary stars for one night only as the judges size up their star power.
The performers undergo an “extraordinary transformation” to embody their idols, with the contestant transformations on the first episode ranging from Freddie Mercury and Marvin Gaye to Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga.
ITV viewers took to Twitter to call for the original Stars in Their Eyes to return to screens, as opposed to the “rip off” version.
One wrote: “If I had created Stars in their Eyes I'd be suing #Starstruck for robbing all the good ideas.”
Another viewer said: “Okay I’m gonna try #Starstruck but to be honest I’ve no idea why they couldn’t have just brought Stars In Their Eyes back”
A third wrote: “Wish we could have just had regular Stars in their Eyes back instead of this tbh. Why does everything need a judging panel nowadays!?”
Comedian and judge Jason defended the show on Twitter as he hit back at shamers.
