Russell Brand’s talk show comeback has been binned by the BBC despite the star recording a pilot episode
Brand was previously suspended by the BBC in 2008 after a Radio 2 show prank with co-host Jonathan Ross led to 45,000 complaints
RUSSELL Brand’s talk show comeback has been binned by the BBC.
A new programme featuring the 43-year-old comic was being lined up for BBC2.
A pilot was even recorded in front of a live studio audience last November.
X Factor makers Talkback Thames were behind the production, which promised to put Russell “face to face” with the British public on a fiery debate show.
But the programme — The Russell Brand TV Show — has been shelved.
A TV source said: “Bosses were hoping they could capture a slice of the success of his former shows but it didn’t quite work out.
“They’ve quietly dropped the format and have decided not to take it forward.”
Brand rose to fame as an MTV presenter before he hosted Big Brother’s Big Mouth in 2004.
But in 2008 he was suspended by the BBC after a Radio 2 show prank led to 45,000 complaints.
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He and co-host Jonathan Ross made phone calls to late actor Andrew Sachs claiming Brand had slept with his granddaughter.
Russell fronted a US chat show in 2012 and 2013.
The BBC declined to comment yesterday.
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