My advice to Claudia Winkleman: it’s not you, it’s the giant sofa – try a different kind of chatshow | Fiona Sturges

The popular presenter is by no means the first to have come a cropper hosting a talkshow. But new formats provide new opportunities You might think the TV chatshow is an easy format to get right. Hire a well-liked host with comic chops and some successful shows under their belt. Build a cheerful set with a big sofa in the middle. Book some A-list celebs plus the obligatory comedian, invite a live audience et voilà ! A prime-time hit is surely born. Except that time and time again, it has proved not to be that simple. Just ask Claudia Winkleman, who revealed last week that she won’t be returning to do a second season of The Claudia Winkleman Show on the BBC. The series, which launched in March, filling the gap while The Graham Norton Show was on hiatus, was received with lukewarm reviews and so-so ratings. The decision to call time on it is reported to be Winkleman’s – “I was just too nervous to enjoy it,” she admitted – though, given the cuts rippling through the corporation, she may have opted to jump before being pushed. Part of the problem is that Winkleman was never going to match Norton’s impeccable hosting style, honed over nearly two decades. As well as approac