ITV 'axes huge Andi Peters and Jeff Brazier perk' in latest cost-cutting

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

The days of seeing ITV stars Andi Peters and Jeff Brazier flown off to exotic locations to promote competitions for the broadcaster are over - according to reports. Both Andi, 54, and Jeff, 46, would often pop up in some far flung location, encouraging viewers to try their luck and be in with a chance of winning thousands of pounds on shows, including Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women.
However, money is now a sticky subject at ITV after it announced a string of cuts to its Daytime offerings before staff at the broadcaster were hit with news that there would be redundancies ahead. As a result, ITV will, reportedly, no longer be shelling out for presenters such as Andi and Jeff to sun themselves on sun-kissed beaches while working for the broadcaster in its latest cost-cutting exercise.
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This year alone, Andi has broadcast from the Maldives, Australia, Cape Town, and Florida while Jeff has jetted off to Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malta, which according to insiders, has 'irritated' production staff who have since been told their roles are at risk.
Speaking to the Mail, a source said: "ITV has scaled back on sending top talent overseas to present their competition segments. The competitions themselves, which give viewers the chance to win six figure sums and idyllic holidays, bring in a great deal of revenue, but constantly flying the likes of Andi and Jeff to the Maldives and South Africa was starting to frustrate staff and viewers alike.
"It was decided that they would dial down for a few weeks after the budget cuts were announced and no one has flown overseas to present the competitions since.
"As well as there being a backlash online from disgruntled viewers, it was felt continuing to send talent abroad to luxurious holiday destinations as others are losing their jobs would be in bad taste."
Indeed, some viewers did take to social media after it was announced that Lorraine Kelly's self-titled programme will be cut in half next year, to just half an hour a day and will only air 30 weeks of the year. Meanwhile, Loose Women will keep its hour show - but again, it will be cut to just 30 out of 52 weeks a year.
Claiming the channel would save money if it didn't keep paying for Andi to be shipped off to yet another picture-postcard location, one fan posted: "If ITV really wanted to save money they would stop sending Andi Peters to Mauritius or the rings of Saturn every time they have a competition."
ITV hasn't featured an exotic location for one of its competitions since May 19 when Lisa Snowdon hosted a segment from Cyprus for This Morning, which coincided with their official announcement of budget cuts and job losses.
Kevin Lygo, Managing Director of ITV's Media and Entertainment Division, announced the changes last month, where he had said the changes were necessary to "generate savings".
However, sources have told The Mirror some shows face a 'death spiral' saying:"It's not a case of viewers seeing less of their shows… it's impossible to see how the high standards will remain the same. Some staff believe Loose Women and Lorraine in particular will enter a death spiral… it's just so sad. Just a handful of people will be working on each of those two programmes which has huge ramifications for how they are going forward."
When contacted by the Mirror, ITV declined to comment.