IT WAS the dating show with a difference – and not just because it was hosted by pop star Dannii Minogue.
I Kissed A Boy launched in 2023 and was the first same-sex match-making series, which, as the title suggests, was an all-male affair.
The following year featured exclusively lesbian and bisexual women before reverting back to men in 2025.
But BBC Three has announced I Kissed A Girl will return for a final series this year before both the men and women shows are retired.
I Kissed A Boy/Girl didn’t quite get the audience the broadcaster needed so execs have taken the difficult decision to axe it after the fourth season.
A spokesman for the Beeb said: “We are exceptionally proud of I Kissed A Boy/Girl, the UK’s first dating show for the LGBTQ+ community.
Read more on I Kissed A Boy
“We would like to thank our fabulous cupid Dannii Minogue and the entire team at Twofour for bringing the series to screen.
“Unfortunately, we have to make difficult choices in light of our funding challenges and there are no current plans for the show to return.”
As with Love Island, I Kissed A Boy/Girl features a group of youngsters looking for romance while living in a stunning villa.
While the ITV2 dating show is based in sunny Spain and South Africa, the I Kissed A Boy/Girl contestants were living the dolce vita in Italy.
Lamenting the loss, Dannii said: “Thank you Twofour Productions and BBC for allowing me to be a part of I Kissed A Boy and I Kissed A Girl series, it is such a powerful and important show.
“I’m so proud the show has given us the chance to celebrate so many people from the LGBTQ+ community, who made up our cast.
“I can’t wait for you to see the brand new series of I Kissed A Girl, bringing all the excitement and joy that this show represents.
“The integrity and intention of why it was created, along with the love and care from the crew and production over the four seasons, has made it the most special experience for me in almost 40 years of television.”
NEW LUTHER LOOKS FLAMIN’ GOOD
THE new instalment of Luther looks flamin’ exciting – as our exclusive shots from the set illustrate.
Leading man Idris Elba was seen in the depths of an epic stunt involving a car blowing up in the middle of a rainstorm.
He’ll reprise his famous role as detective John Luther in a new feature film for Netflix which also sees his co-stars Dermot Crowley and Ruth Wilson return.
The movie is a sequel to 2023’s Luther: The Fallen Sun and is likely to drop next year on the streaming service.
Director Jamie Payne has already reassured us: “Fans new and old are in for a treat.”
MALAY’S THE WAY FOR SOS
AFTER I revealed Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins was returning to Channel 4, I can now share the location where famous faces will be put through their paces.
Malaysia is the choice for the next series – and it will be the first time the show’s been filmed in the Southeast Asian country.
The likes of Dani Dyer and Gabi Allen travelled to North Africa for the most recent series.
So the new recruits can expect dressing downs from Billy Billingham and Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox in uncharted territory.
Boasting wild jungle, as well as mountainous terrain, Malaysia has close historical links to British forces training, so it could well be the perfect pick.
During the Malayan Emergency, from 1948 to 1960, our soldiers developed modern jungle warfare tactics there and the Malaysian Army still runs training schools.
RUTH’S UPFRONT CO-STAR
RUTH JONES reckons her cleavage is a star in its own right in new costume drama, The Other Bennet Sister.
She plays Mrs Bennet – alongside Richard E. Grant as her husband – in the BBC’s drama about their overlooked middle daughter from Pride And Prejudice.
Ruth said: “Yes it’s her secret weapon. Mrs Bennet relies very heavily on her heaving bosom!
“It’s like her engine – she very rarely gets seen without it, apart from when she’s in her nightie.”
The drama, which starts on BBC One on Sunday, was filmed in Cardiff and the Gavin & Stacey star felt so at home her Welsh accent would come to the fore.
Ruth said: “I’m not going to lie, I could hear my accent come through and I was like, ‘I hope nobody notices’.”
HIT period drama The Forsytes has been renewed for a third series by Channel 5.
The adaptation of John Galsworthy’s novel, The Forsyte Saga, starts filming this year.
BAFTA-winner Francesca Annis plays formidable matriarch Ann in the show about a wealthy family in 1880s London.
PIERS IS MAKING HISTORY
FOLLOWING the success of Piers Morgan‘s Uncensored, the brand has launched its first spin-off show, History Uncensored.
This week it explores the origins of the Mafia.
Former CNN anchor Bianca Nobilo speaks to historians Tyler Anbinder and Ryan Gingeras as well as ex-Colombo capo Michael Franzese about the mob’s links to John F Kennedy‘s assassination in 1963 – and it’s riveting stuff.
Franzese tells the YouTube show: “No other organised crime group in the world has been romanticised as much as the Mafia.”
And the show gets Piers’ seal of approval.
He tells me: “Bianca will be blowing the cobwebs away on the stories, legends and outrages, which have shaped our civilisation and still play a part in politics today.”
NO COLD FEET ON REBOOT
TALK is heating up of a reboot of comedy drama Cold Feet – thanks to fans’ reaction to rumours of a possible return.
Jimmy Nesbitt and John Thomson – who played pals Pete and Adam – shared a promising update on Gaby Roslin’s Reasons to be Joyful podcast.
Jimmy said: “The fact people responded in the way they did suggests to me there is no reason why it shouldn’t come back. I’d love it to.”
John added: “I’ve already teased the idea, because of the success of Gavin and Stacey’s (2024) Christmas special it’d be better to test the water with a Christmas special.”
The ITV comedy aired for five seasons from 1998 and starred Nesbitt, Thomson, Helen Baxendale, Fay Ripley, Hermione Norris and Robert Bathurst.
