Footballers' Wives is axed

Footballers’ Wives has been axed after five years of over-the-top goings-on at Earls Park FC.

ITV drama has decided not to commission a sixth series of the infamous show.

Footballers’ Wives began life as a cult classic when it was launched on ITV1 in 2001.

The show launched the careers of the likes of Zoe Lucker, who played the insatiable superbitch Tanya Turner, and Gary Lucy (Kyle Pascoe).

Guest stars have included Joan Collins, David Seaman, Peter Andre and Jordan, Peter Stringfellow, Sol Campbell and Calum Best.

But the storylines have become increasingly bizarre and viewers for the last series, which ended last month, fell below four million.

At its peak, Footballers Wives was watched by around eight to nine million viewers.

Between 2002 and 2003, at the height of its popularity, 91 babies were registered with the name Chardonnay, after one of the show’s most popular characters.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu declared himself a fan of the scandalous drama, while the Archbishop of Canterbury used his Easter sermon to criticise the self-seeking lifestyle of the greedy, bed-hopping main characters.

Brian Park, managing director of Shed Productions, the independent company behind the show, said today: “Footballers’ Wives has had a great run on ITV and we’re proud that we created one of the most talked about TV shows of recent times and the fact that it really caught the mood of the nation.

“We mutually agreed with ITV that we finish Footballers’ Wives on a high and we’re in active discussions with ITV regarding a replacement drama or dramas.

“Although Footballers’ Wives has come to an end in the UK, it goes from strength to strength internationally. It continues to do well on BBC America and we have just signed a deal to take the series into South America which is a natural home for Footballers’ Wives.”

Today’s announcement will be news to Footballers’ Wives stars Ben Richards (Bruno) and Sarah Barrand (Shannon).

The pair were at the launch of Sport Relief today, before the announcement was made about the axing of the show.

Asked about speculation about the future of Footballers Wives, they said they had no idea about what was going to happen.