ITV originally rejected Britain’s Got Talent and the BBC turned its nose up at Strictly Come Dancing, according to top TV executive Lorraine Heggessey.
And when it was first floated to Channel 4, they turned down Take Me Out claiming Paddy McGuinness wouldn’t work as its host.
Lorriane ran Talkback Thames, Simon Cowell’s production partner, when they first came up with a pilot for BGT.
She said: “ITV turned it down and none of us could believe it.
“Even though Simon Cowell was one of their biggest stars, even he couldn’t persuade them to take it.”
ITV eventually decided to give the show a chance, but nearly cancelled it following the failure of Graham Norton’s Strictly Dance Fever on BBC1.
She revealed that Talkback’s dating show Take Me Out, which proved a huge hit on ITV, was first shown to BBC3, who rejected it.
Then it was considered by Channel 4, which gave host Patrick McGuinness his breakthrough role in the Peter Kay comedy Phoenix Nights.
Lorraine told the Media Masters podcast: “Channel 4 went, ‘well, we don’t really see him as the host of an entertainment show.’”
When she was the first female Controller of BBC1, she also took the “huge gamble” of launching Strictly Come Dancing in 2004.
Lorraine said: “There was quite a lot of opposition and quite a lot of questioning of our decision” from other BBC bosses.
“The idea of putting ballroom dancing live on Saturday nights was not a no-brainer.”
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https://www.hellofaread.com/britains-got-talent/ant-and-dec-reunite-after-three-months-apart-in-lockdown-as-they-record-for-their-new-autobiography/
