Claudia Winkleman’s talk show landed on BBC One last night – but viewers were left with the same question.

Claudia Winkleman during filming for the Claudia Winkleman Show (Image: PA)

Former Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman is following in the footsteps of Graham Norton by fronting her very own talk show, where she welcomes famous faces onto the programme to ask them about their latest projects. While Claudia is hugely popular amongst Strictly fans and viewers of The Traitors, her opening episode left fans “cringing”.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to voice their thoughts, one person penned: “It was not good. The audience participation was cringeworthy, and it felt like Claudia was just hanging out rather than at the helm.” Another said: ” #TheClaudiaWinklemanShow is truly an awful show with a dark, ugly set. I kept cringing every time she opened her mouth. Where’s Graham? Give a more talented person a chance, this is not her natural habitat, yes she’s a nepo baby but please get her off Friday night TV.”

Jeff Goldblum, Jennifer Saunders, Vanessa Williams and Tom Allen appeared (Image: PA)

Another shared: “Intro music is c**p. The set is too dark. Something’s not right about the sound, but not sure what. Interviews are a bit all over the place. Tweaking definitely needed if it’s to be anywhere near as good as the Graham Norton Show.”

Someone else added: “Needs more lighting. Very drab background,” while another echoed: “The set has too many shadows. I love Claudia, but it’s set up to fail.”The sound is terrible and sounds too prompted. I love Claudia but it’s setup to fail.”

Despite the backlash, some viewers have hope for the series, with one adding: “Winkleman performs better when it’s spontaneous, off the cuff, not prepared. She is ideal for life telly…. This … not so much. She’s a bit stilted. Reining in her own personality. Maybe it will get better. Maybe #theclaudiawinklemanshow.”

Another fan shared: ” #TheClaudiaWinklemanShow is great. Different enough from Graham to fill the gaps off-season, but also similar enough that… It’s the exact same chat show formula which we know works perfectly fine. So I can’t imagine why anyone would complain! And obviously, Claudia is fabulous.”

During the first instalment, Claudia was joined by Hollywood actors Jeff Goldblum and Vanessa Williams, along with Jennifer Saunders and comedian Tom Allen.

The show ran for 45 minutes instead of Graham’s usual 50 minutes and did not include a musical act.