'I WAS ON GOGGLEBOX AND ONE FRUSTRATING ISSUE DURING FILMING RUINED TV FOR ME'

Former Gogglebox personality Daniel Lustig-Webb has disclosed that his time on the programme has "ruined" his television viewing experience. Daniel appeared on the series from 2019 alongside his former spouse Stephen Webb.

The popular Channel 4 programme features ordinary households providing commentary on current television content. During its peak, Gogglebox regularly attracted audiences of between five and six million viewers weekly.

Daniel and Stephen departed the series in 2023. Speaking at the time, Daniel described his involvement as an "absolute ride and an absolute pleasure". Within a year of leaving, the couple announced their separation. Despite this, they maintained their shared residence in Brighton.

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Speaking recently on the A Gay and a Non Gay podcast, Daniel confessed he feels nostalgic about his involvement with the programme. He reflected: "It was part of my life for so many years because before I was on it, when I first met Stephen, he had just done the pilot, and we've known each other for 12 years. All that time it was part of my life. I loved watching it, I loved going to all of the shows, and then being part of it. I still can't believe I was part of it. I miss doing it, it was really good fun."

However, Daniel acknowledged one significant drawback. He explained that the Gogglebox households view only brief segments of each programme, which consequently "ruins" any attempt to watch complete series afterwards. He explained: "You only really watch up to 15 minutes. The way it's made it looks like we were watching the whole thing but if you're watching a movie, you might watch one part, the second part, the third part all together, and that might be eight minutes in total.

"The producer, their job was to fill you in, but when you first start it's like, 'Gosh, I don't know what's going on'. It's just shock and react really. It ruins it. Whatever really decent show is on, everyone's watching it, you're getting into it, and then you film a little bit of it and you've seen the last bit, the middle bit, and the beginning bit, and now you think, 'I don't know any of the other bits'."

Stephen, who took part in Celebs Go Dating in 2024, had previously admitted he "got bored of his own jokes" before the former couple departed the programme. Speaking to the Mirror, he said: "I thought, 'I just can't go back, I'm sick of it.'"

The television personality, who had earlier featured on the programme alongside his mum Pat and subsequently friend Chris Ashby-Steed, added: "I got to the 10th anniversary of Gogglebox. I started feeling like Ken Barlow... there from day one. I was churning out the same old sh**. I'd say to the guys, 'Sorry, you'll have heard this 10 times before...' I don't know why they've not cottoned on. When I shoved the doughnut in my mouth and swallowed... I must have done that four times. It made it on every time."

Daniel isn't the only person to shed some light one what happens behind-the-scenes on Gogglebox. The One Show star Roman Kemp, who films with his dad Martin, has previously spoken about the show, admitting he was about to "ruin" the show's mystery for viewers. On his You About? podcast with singer Tom Grennan, Roman said: "With Gogglebox, and they've done it for so many years, I don't think they mind me saying—you’re not watching the entire show. By the way, if you like Gogglebox and don't want to know this, don't listen, because it will ruin the show a little bit

He continued: "You watch on a smaller telly—the TV is so tiny. It’s a small, tiny little monitor that you have to watch it on. And you're watching TV there with about three cameras in the room with you. They don't have people behind them—they’re electronic. There's a little voice, and the producer will talk to you and so on.

"You probably watch, out of an hour-long show or movie, 12 minutes. Usually, a cut-down is around 12 minutes; a lot of the time it’s six or seven. If you're watching a quiz show, you're only watching six minutes of that quiz show—the best bit. So that's when we were like, 'Okay, you've got to play this.'"

Tom, who also appeared on Celebrity Gogglebox with his father, explained that celebrities "don't get TV time" if they misjudge what viewers want. This prompted Roman to explain that he and Martin quickly figured out what works for them. He added: "You have to figure out what people like watching from you. We found out quite quickly that literally the only parts of me and my dad being in it are when one of us is farting, one of us is falling over... What I will say, though, is that that is our relationship."

Gogglebox is set to make its comeback tonight (February 6) at 9pm on Channel 4 for its 27th series. The beloved sofa commentators will be tuning in to a variety of hit television programmes, including Netflix's Bridgerton, The Apprentice, Secret Genius, The Floor, Pole to Pole with Will Smith, and Olivia Attwood: Getting Filthy Rich. Viewers can expect to see familiar faces returning, such as Ellie and Izzi Warner, Pete and Sophie Sandiford, the Malone family, and the Siddiqui family.

2026-02-06T13:58:36Z