Channel 4 has confirmed a fresh batch of famous faces for Celebrity Gogglebox, with the show returning on Friday 5 June for its 50th episode. The milestone outing will bring in Julian Clary, Nigel Havers, George Clarke, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Olivia Attwood, alongside a familiar rota of returning pairings.
That is the reason viewers are searching now: the eighth season of Celebrity Gogglebox is coming back at 9pm on Channel 4, and the lineup has been widened again for the new run. The series has always leaned on quick-fire reactions to the week’s biggest television moments, but the latest cast reveal adds a few new combinations that should give the sofa chat a different feel from the first episode onwards.
Clary said taking part was an absolute treat and suggested his commentary brought a certain level of refinement to proceedings, while also delivering the sort of deadpan jab the show trades on by saying Nigel managed to stay awake. Havers answered in kind, calling it a dream come true to work with Clary on Gogglebox, with the aside that the line sounded as if it had been written by Clary himself.
Clarke is joining with his Useless Hotline podcast co-host Max Balegde, and he said the whole thing gave him a full excuse to take the mick out of Max on national TV. He added that Max reacts to everything, which is exactly the sort of unpredictable energy the format feeds on. A similar dynamic should come from Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, known to viewers as Nitro from Gladiators, who will appear with Matt Morsia, better known as Legend, while Olivia Attwood will share the sofa with her mum Jennifer.
Alongside the newcomers, Channel 4 says the returning lineup will include Vernon Kay and Paddy McGuinness, Bez and Shaun Ryder, Roman and Martin Kemp, Ashley Banjo and Perri Kiely, Nick Grimshaw and niece Liv, the Mangans, Rylan and mum Linda, Mo Gilligan and Babatunde Aléshé, Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan, and Vicky Pattison and Pete Wicks. The format remains what has made it work for so long: famous faces watching television, talking over it and exposing their own chemistry in the process.
Celebrity Gogglebox is now approaching its 50th episode in its eighth season, and the open question is how many more new names will be revealed as the series rolls on after Friday. Channel 4 has already signalled that more famous faces will be confirmed as the run continues, which means the sofa is not finished changing yet.
