Jack Whitehall already lined up for celeb-filled Christmas extravaganza as TV bosses already plan 2024 festive treats
CHRISTMAS is only just over but Jack Whitehall is already planning a new show for December this year.
With the aid of his Jackpot Productions firm, the hardworking comic is putting together a huge celebrity-filled variety-style show featuring guests and performances.
It will be his first festive special since Christmas With My Father in 2019, and since becoming a dad in September when his model girlfriend Roxy Horner gave birth to daughter Elsie.
A TV source said: “Christmas takes on a new meaning when you have children of your own so it makes perfect sense for Jack to look at a festive show of his own too.
“The Jackpot team have been briefed to fill it with lots of laughs, silly sketches and celeb performances — sort of like Saturday Night Live in the US but with a lovely festive flourish. Plans are under way and Jack is chatting to a number of channels to find the format a home.
“He has worked with Prime Video and Netflix in the past and both feel like good platforms for the holiday high jinks.”
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It will cap another busy year for Jack, who hasn’t slacked off since welcoming Elsie.
He has wrapped on his next project, a four-parter that marks a new chapter for his Travels With My Father series.
Fatherhood With My Father sees Jack, dad Michael Whitehall and mum Hilary journey to Berlin, Turin and LA.
It hits Netflix in June.
But before then, his latest stand-up tour, Settle Down, drops on the streamer on January 30.
He’s so busy, no wonder he needs to start planning for Christmas so early.
I’M A Celebrity winner Sam Thompson is not just King of the Jungle – now he’s king of the hugs.
He headed to Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex yesterday to break the world record for the most hugs given in a minute – embracing 88 people in 60 seconds live on ITV’s This Morning.
Mother of all tests
KATHERINE Ryan is putting her parenting skills to the test in a new UKTV series, where she meets breast milk couriers and a family of nudists.
Fly-on-the-wall cameras follow her around for Katherine Ryan: Parental Guidance, which starts on February 5 on W and UKTV Play.
But the comic and presenter’s biggest challenge came a little closer to home, with her two-year-old son, Fred.
Mother-of-three Katherine said: “Fred did not like the cameras at all to begin with.
“He’s just the Robbie Williams of our family. He’s always in his pants, he’s kind of a diva and he won’t come out of his dressing room. But we really love him.”
THE case of university professor Anna Stubblefield, convicted of sexual assault over an affair with a non-speaking disabled man, is investigated in a documentary on February 3.
Tell Them You Love Me on Sky Documentaries is from Louis Theroux's production company.
New Blue Peter gig for Shini
BLUE Peter has signed up a TikTok influencer as the long-running children’s show’s 43rd presenter.
Shini Muthukrishnan will join existing hosts Abby Cook, Joel Mawhinney and Henry the dog on CBBC this Friday.
Shini said: “I have fond memories of Blue Peter, as (previous presenters) Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood were my era.
“As a kid, I looked up to Helen – she seemed fearless.
She took on incredible challenges with such a headstrong attitude that made me think I can be fearless too.
Being part of the Blue Peter team is such a surreal exciting feeling.
“I can’t wait for the adventures.”
A dodgy deal for Sir Tony
SIR Tony Robinson is ready to let out his inner villain on The Madame Blanc Mysteries.
The Blackadder actor will play Uncle Patrick in the Channel 5 drama, written by and starring Sally Lindsay as mystery-solving antiques dealer Jean White.
But while his new character might appear to be a sweet man who is doing his best to make up for a life of crime, that is not entirely what Tony signed up for.
He revealed: “Sally asked what part I I wanted to play. I said, ‘I’d like to be one of those blokes that everyone thinks is nice, then he turns out to be a bit of a b*d’.
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“He’s like a very old Artful Dodger, which was the first role I ever played professionally – he walks in out of the blue having served a term inside. We’re never told what for, he’s just imbued with that dodginess.”
The Madame Blanc Mysteries continues on Thursday at 9pm.