Gogglebox in crisis as cast turn on the show over its strict rules and ‘forcing their reactions’ while ratings drop by over one million

GOGGLEBOX stars appear to have turned against the show that made them famous as ratings drop by over one million.

Channel 4 bosses of the BAFTA winning programme, which launched in 2013, have angered the starring families with strict rules and changes to filming schedules.

The shock blow comes after both Steph and Dom Parker and the Gilbey family have quit – with Sandy and Sandra "taking a break" from filming the current series.

A show insider told The Sun Online: “This series has been a real turning point for the cast and tensions are high.

“Everything feels different to the first couple of series and it’s all very unnatural and regimented now.

The secret strain comes after George Gilbey revealed exclusively to The Sun on Sunday how the cast are no longer allowed to watch full episodes of the programmes they’re critiquing.

Instead they’re shown brief clips to maximise the content covered during their contracted filming hours.

Talking about the impact of this change, our source added: “The cast feel like they’re forcing their reactions a lot more now that they can only watch clips of things.

“Each family is contracted to 12 hours of filming a week and producers want to get through as much stuff as possible.

“It contradicts the real and relatable element which made the show a success.

“It’s no surprise we've lost a considerable amount of viewers this series.”

Ratings for series 13, which is currently six weeks into its three month run, dipped as low as 2.3 million on October 7.

The number is a far cry from the average of four million viewers turning into series 12 which aired in February.

Steph and Dom Parker were the first key cast members to quit the show.

During an exclusive interview with The Sun Online, they said: “You can have too much of a good thing, so you can’t overdo it, we just felt it was time.

“We’d pretty much said all we needed to say, and we knew what we were going say.”

George Gilbey, who took a three series break after appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2014, was next to quit.

He told The Sun: “It’s got so hard now...I’m leaving just after Christmas.”

After tweeting-and-deleting about taking a break from filming, Sandra Martin confirmed to The Sun online she was on a “well deserved holiday season break” until mid-November.

Sandra’s temporary departure comes after she blamed the programme for ruining her love life.  

Scarlett Moffatt looks likely to be absent from future episodes too after signing up to I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

A source previously told The Sun: “Scarlett has gone down really well on Gogglebox and I’m A Celeb producers think she’s a perfect fit for them."

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