Press clippings Page 2
This is the one with James Corden's face plastered on the bare bottom of One Direction's Niall. Which is a sentence you probably thought you'd never read. Watch the ratings go through the roof of the net as this loosely reffed bout of sporting mayhem also welcomes Niall's pop buddies Louis and Harry into the game - Jack Whitehall is honing the Stylinson gags as we speak - with Sara Cox and Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley also getting in on the action.
Carol Carter and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro, 30th August 2013Keith Lemon (alter-ego of Bo' Selecta comedian Leigh Francis) returned for a second series of Celebrity Juice; basically a tabloid-y, low-rent version of Shooting Stars, with a fraction of the laughs and zero inspiration. It's a panel show that relies on Lemon's abilities to keep the whole thing on-track, so inevitably fails because the Lemon character is so tedious. Strangely, Francis' retired creation, neck-braced celebrity stalker Avid Merion, would actually be a better fit for Juice's showbiz theme!
Any half-amusing moments are almost accidental, and the most enjoyable thing about the show is trying to guess how the celebs have been persuaded to appear: Fearne Cotton (shameless, no quality control), Sara Cox (as a favour to fellow Radio 1 presenter Cotton?), Kevin Bishop (new sitcom to plug that airs immediately after), Coolio (exploiting his renewed fame after Celebrity Big Brother), Verne Troyer (likewise), Rufus Hound (an ambition to appear on every digital channel's tripe?), guest-star Bianca Gascoigne (need I say more?) and Holly Willoughby (oh yes, her husband's a producer on the show.) Not so much juice, just dregs from a fruit squeezed dry by Vic n' Bob 10 years ago.
Dan Owen, news:lite, 1st March 2009