AJ Odudu and Will Best for Big Brother 2025 / ITV
ITV has reportedly decided to drop Big Brother companion show Late & Live ahead of 2026.
The chat-based spinoff – hosted by regular BB presenters AJ Odudu and Will Best – launched when the show returned to ITV in 2023 and airs every night after the main show from Sundays to Fridays.
According to The Sun, however, ITV has reached the conclusion that its ratings are not sufficient to warrant the cost and it will therefore not be returning alongside Celebrity Big Brother next Spring.
“Big Brother in general has struggled this year due to fierce competition from the likes of Celebrity Traitors,” a source told the newspaper.
“Late and Live has really struggled due to the main show not doing as well as hoped.
“Over the past few weeks whispers have been rife that the show would be axed and then during the final week it was an open topic on the studio floor.
“Bosses have quietly told staff, many of whom are freelancers, not to expect the show to return.”
The insider added: “ITV still loves Will and AJ and think they are the right people to host the main show.
“Big Brother remains a priority for ITV even without Late and Live.”
The decision to scrap the companion show could pave the way for additional hours of live feed streaming on ITVX, although ITV refused to be drawn on Big Brother programming plans for 2026 when approached.
