Kirstie Allsopp saddened as Channel 4 budget cuts leave show fans devastated

Kirstie Allsopp has taken to social media to express her disappointment to fans of her annual Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas show.

The Channel 4 staple first aired in 2014 and usually airs on weekday evenings in December.

However, the star has revealed via X (formerly Twitter) that the DIY show is being rested by the broadcaster and that the festive series has taken “a hit”.

On Monday (27 November) one fan tweeted the 52-year-old and said: @KirstieMAllsopp when does the daily handmade Christmas show start? I love that show.”

In reply, the presenter announced: “It doesn’t this year.

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“Everyone at @Channel4 had to do some economising and our daily shows took a hit. But we’ll be back next year, and we have one lovely show at 8pm on Sunday the 10th December.”

Another fan took to the platform and wrote: “Devastated to find no @KirstieMAllsopp Homemade Christmas this year.

“My (sic) six-year-old and I binged last year’s series yesterday as the official start of Christmas but what do we do now?!”

The star quoted the message and wrote: “We are just as sad, but there is (sic) one brand new show at 8pm on Sunday the 10th of December and it’s lovely.

“Plus let’s all make it clear to @Channel4 that budget cuts must fall elsewhere next year,” she added.

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Kirstie’s comments come after Deadline revealed that pausing Homemade Christmas was one of Channel 4’s cost-cutting efforts.

As per the publication, they claimed that the broadcaster was “cancelling shows at the eleventh hour” and said that they were “asking suppliers to finance productions at short notice.”

They also claimed that while Handmade Christmas hadn’t been formally greenlit for another season, preparations for the 2023 series were “underway”.

Speaking to the publication at the time, Kirstie said: “I know it’s not personal.

“We all take a hit on different things at different points in time. Hopefully, the ad market will improve and we’ll be back again.”

She added that an estimated 30 production crew would lose work as a result of the cost-cutting decision, and claimed that she was “very upset”.

“I am very upset for anybody — not just my colleagues, not just the lovely people that I work with — but anybody in the industry who is struggling for work. I know there are quite a few,” Kirstie explained.

Regarding the alleged pause, it’s reported that Khalid Hayat, Channel 4’s Director for Strategy said: “Our priority throughout this period is to preserve shows as much as we can.

“To minimize any disruption or cancellations to commissioning and any decisions that we make are about ensuring the sustainability and delivering the sustainability of Channel 4’s remit delivery.”

Express.co.uk has contacted Channel 4 for further comment.

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