Konnie Huq to leave The Xtra Factor
TV presenter Konnie Huq is to leave ITV2's X Factor spin-off show The Xtra Factor after just one series. The former Blue Peter host, 35, joined the show last year, replacing previous presenter Holly Willoughby - but did not always prove popular with viewers or critics. Since then there had been speculation that Konnie - who is married to TV writer Charlie Brooker - would be dropped from the show. However her manager has said that filming dates clashed with a prior commitment she had in the US. We thank Konnie for her contribution to the Xtra Factor and wish her all the very best for the future," said a spokeswoman for production company Talkback Thames. Konnie has revealed that she is due to work on a TV show on Discovery for the American and Asian markets, and that filming dates clashed with the next series of The X Factor. "I loved doing Xtra Factor. It was so exciting. But I also cannot wait to start filming my new show for Discovery in China," she said.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.