New families join Channel 4 show’s line-up

Gogglebox will welcome a raft of new faces when it returns with an expanded cast of couch-based TV critics on Friday.

The five new sets of cast members include friends from Glasgow, a family from Surrey, and a couple from the Cotswolds. They’ll be joined by sisters from Edinburgh and a mother and daughter-in-law duo from Yorkshire.

But one pair of regulars has left the show – Scottish couple Joe Kyle and Roisin Kelly. Roisin has said on Instagram they have been “brutally axed from Gogglebox”.

The long-running Channel 4 TV series, narrated by The Royle Family’s Craig Cash, has viewers watching other viewers watching the week’s telly, often to comic and heartwarming effect.

Mike Cotton, creative director of producers Studio Lambert, said it was “a delight to welcome some new households to the Gogglebox family”.

He added: “Along with our much loved returning cast, we can’t wait to join them in their living rooms and hear their candid thoughts on this week’s most talked about TV.”

The new recruits are:

• Friends Jake and Calum from Glasgow
• The Gordon family from Surrey – Andre, Sarah and daughter Chee
• Married couple Andrew and Alfie from the Cotswolds
• Mother and daughter-in-law Sara and Lara from Yorkshire
• Sisters Rosie and Susie from Edinburgh

In July, the departing Roisin posted that Channel 4 “have not asked us back for season 26”, and said it “sure has been a once in a lifetime opportunity”.

Channel 4 said: “We thank Joe and Roisin for their contributions to Gogglebox over the years, and wish them all the best for the future.”

Regular favourites who are set to return include Jenny and Lee, the Siddiquis and the Malones.

Now in its 13th year, the show been honoured by the Bafta and National Television Awards, and has spawned spin-offs including Gogglesprogs – a children’s version – and Celebrity Gogglebox featuring the likes of Ed Sheeran, Joanna Lumley and Maya Jama.

Series 26 of Googlebox starts on Channel 4 at 21:00 BST on Friday 5 September.