Celebrity Juice

Background

The format for the series was first suggested in 2007, after the final series of Leigh Francis' Channel 4 sketch show Bo' Selecta!. ITV approached Francis to create a show featuring popular alter-ego Keith Lemon, and after the success of the five-part series Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour, the channel commissioned Celebrity Juice.

Premise

The original premise of the show was to see which team knows most about the week's tabloid news stories, although later series focus more on the comedy factor of the participating celebrity guests and games involving them, rather than discussing the week's news.

Panelists

The show's regular team captains are Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton. Occasionally, guest captains will fill in for Willoughby or Cotton when they are absent for personal reasons, with Emma Bunton, Chris Moyles, Jonathan Ross and John Barrowman being the most notable guest captains. For the ninth series Kelly Brook replaced Fearne Cotton while she was on maternity leave. Willoughby appeared in episode 1 of series 12, but was replaced by Gino D'Acampo for the rest of the series. D'Acampo became a regular panelist from series 13 following the return of Willoughby.

The show also features a regular comedic pannelist, who usually appears on Fearne's, or Kelly's, team. Having appeared during the first series twice, Rufus Hound became a regular panelist on Cotton's team from the second series onwards, although he left the show during the seventh series for undisclosed reasons. From the eighth series onwards, Chris Ramsey took up a semi-regular role on Cotton or Brook's team to replace Hound, although he only makes around three regular appearances per series. Lemon is also renowned for mocking both team captains, often referring to Willoughby as "Holly Willoughbooby" and mocking Cotton for her large nostrils and small breasts. During the ninth series, he also often referenced the fact that Brook was sacked from several of her previous television projects.

As well as several guest panellists who have appeared regularly on the show, the VT round, which features Lemon taking on a particular celebrity in a pre-arranged challenge, also features regular guests, with Verne Troyer having appeared since series two, Jedward having appeared since series three, David Hasselhoff having appeared since series five, the cast of Coronation Street having appeared since series eight, and Rylan Clark having appeared since series nine. The first series featured The Bear from Bo' Selecta! in this role, interviewing mystery celebrity guests to allow the team captains or panellists to guess who he was talking about.

In the "cover story round", which also features a celebrity guest, a particular category entitled "Doggy Style" also features, in which a bulldog appears dressed as a particular celebrity. A bulldog called Gary appeared until series eight, due to his death in 2012, and he was replaced by another bulldog called Spud.

Production

Celebrity Juice was filmed at the Riverside Studios from 2008 until 2014. In August 2014 it was announced that the show, along with the BBC's Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Sweat the Small Stuff, would be hosted at Elstree Studios Stage 9 whilst redevelopment takes place at their former home. For its first seven series', the show was produced by Talkback Thames, and it has been produced by Talkback since series eight (Same production company, only re-branded). The show is produced by Dan Baldwin and Leon Wilson.

In 2011, the show won the Best Entertainment Show Award at the TV Choice Awards and in 2012, it won an NTA for best comedy panel show and a BAFTA Award for the Best YouTube Audience.

Merchandise

Online

Guest appearances

The following have made more than one appearance on the show as a guest panellist (as of 10 November 2016):

Critical reception

In 2009, 2010 and 2011, the show was voted "Worst British TV Panel Show" in the British Comedy Guide's annual awards.