Walliams ‘rakes in £50k a day’ for ITV f lop that replaced News at Ten

DAVID Walliams is being paid £50,000 an episode to host The Nightly Show, ITV sources have claimed.

Details of his £250,000-a-week pay packet emerged as the new late-night chat show was revealed to have lost more than half of its viewers by its second episode.

An audience of just one million tuned in, down from an already feeble 2.2million on its Monday night premiere. Executives had hoped for three million.

Last week, when ITV News ran in its traditional ten o’clock slot, it was watched by 1.5million people. That figure has more than halved to 700,000 since the news moved.

ITV journalists are furious the news has been shunted out of its ‘iconic’ ten o’clock slot. A source at ITN, which makes ITV News, said: ‘It is frustrating and insulting for us to be shoved to the far corners of the primetime schedule. And it is even more insulting to see what it was replaced by.’

Another high-profile source said: ‘People are furious. Have you seen the quality of the guests? It’s just laughable.’ So far, Mr Walliams’ line-up has included the comedian Katherine Ryan and ventriloquist Nina Conti. Last night’s show was due to host Forrest Galante, an animal expert, alongside comedian Rob Brydon.

A well-placed ITV source said it spent around £10million on the project, and paid for a four-week ‘dry run’. An ITV spokesman refused to comment on the show’s budget, or on ‘speculation around individual artist contracts’. Executives are urging head of television Kevin Lygo to ‘cut his losses’ and axe the show or move it.

ITV’s decision to move the news proved even more embarrassing last night when anchorman Tom Bradby won the Royal Television Society award for network presenter of the year.