Gogglebox to return tonight for first ever Thursday show - and fans are delighted
The voting booths close at 10pm on Thursday 4 July, and the TV coverage of the General Election 2024 begins, with news presenters getting ready to announce the results as they come in.
On Channel 4’s Britain Decides from 9.45pm, things will be a little different, much to the delight of Gogglebox fans. While Emily Maitlis and Krishnan Guru-Murthy will be providing news and analysis as the votes are counted, Gogglebox favourites will be sharing their perspectives on the election campaigns that they watched in the run up to the big day.
Posting on Instagram, Gogglebox star Simon Minty shared a photo of himself and sister Jane making X symbols with their fingers, encouraging everyone to vote, and announcing their election night appearance.
Alongside the image, he wrote: “Not long before the General Election. Hope you get to put your X in the box? Very excited to tell you all of us Goggleboxers are popping up on Thursday evening on Channel 4, as part of ‘Britain Decides’. Amongst all the updates and brilliant analysis there will be a little bit of us Goggleboxers talking about the election campaigns. Hope you can watch it.”
Fans were thrilled with the news, with one writing: “That’s great news (for a change!!) Look forward to seeing you all. Lightens the atmosphere,” while another added: “That is wonderful! I’m voting for you guys.”
A third Gogglebox viewer commented: “Won’t be hard to talk sense compared to what I’ve heard so far from the candidates,” and a fourth said: “I’ll be watching as always, nice hour of light relief x.”
However, rather than a traditional hour of Gogglebox, the TV favourites will appear in specially commissioned short inserts that will be shown throughout the night. Channel 4’s coverage will also include The Rest Is Politics podcast hosts Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart delivering their own unique brand of analysis, and broadcaster and mathematician Hannah Fry will also be on the presenting team to crunch the data and make sense of the numbers on the night.
There will also be quite a few well known faces from the political world popping up during Channel 4’s coverage including Kwasi Kwarteng, Harriet Harman, Vince Cable, Mhairi Black and Ann Widdecombe.
Googlebox fans, meanwhile, will have to wait until later this year for new regular length episodes featuring Simon and Jane, Ellie and Izzi, Giles and Mary, David and Shirley and the rest of the Gogglebox gang.
In the meantime, Celebrity Gogglebox is back on Channel 4 on Friday 5 July, featuring famous faces including Martin and Roman Kemp, Jane McDonald and her best friend Sue, Shaun Ryder and Bez, Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan, and Bobby, Jeff and Freddie Brazier.
