Vanessa Feltz says people need to give her new TV show a chance before writing it off.
The midday show titled Vanessa launched to much fanfare on 5, formerly Channel 5, on Monday but got off to a disappointing start, with a surprisingly low number of viewers tuning in for its debut episode.
According to figures, Vanessa only attracted 83,000 viewers. In contrast, the show preceding it, Storm Huntley, drew 154,000 viewers, while Home and Away, which aired immediately after, attracted 157,000 viewers.
Meanwhile, on ITV, Loose Women - which Vanessa was billed as a rival to - pulled in a significantly larger audience of 686,000 viewers.
Feltz - who recently quit ITV’s This Morning after 33 years - says she isn’t sweating it though. She called suggestions that her show has flopped “unfair” as she stepped out for a special seventh anniversary performance of Tina - The Tina Turner Musical at The Aldwych Theatre in London on Thursday night.
Speaking to jouralists, including The Standard, the veteran broadcaster, 63, fumed: “It’s rubbish, we doubled [our figures] day one, it’s a brand new show, it has only been going four days, it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t true.”
She says she’s excited for what is to come and said “it feels bloody excellent” to have this new format.
“It’s going to be the place where you can have an honest chat about relationships, parenting, grandparenting, love, sex, if you're lucky enough to have any, health, fitness and friendship.”
She also hit back at criticism over her gaudy set, which sees her and guests sat on pink sofas surrounded by pink flowers, cushions, curtains and even cakes.
Despite viewers on social media describing it as looking like “Barbie's met Babestation” and questioning “did the sofas come from Barbara Cartland's old place?”, Feltz says she loves it.
Adding: “I’ve had people DM me on Instagram saying it’s so pretty.”
Feltz’s guests have so far included Helen Flanagan and Calum Best, plus, former Strictly Come Dancing pros James and Ola Jordan, and she’s looking forward to welcoming many more of her celebrity friends on the sofa, gaudy or not.
