Steph McGovern halts Channel 4 show so family can get 'our home back'

Steph McGovern launched her new Channel 4 show from her own home

Steph McGovern has announced she is halting her home-made Channel 4 show to "give my family our home back".

She was originally due to host The Steph Show, a new live daily lunchtime programme, from a studio in Leeds.

But she has been going live from her living room in Harrogate for a month because of the coronavirus lockdown.

Channel 4 director of programmes Ian Katz said: "I think we have stretched the patience of the neighbours a bit too far and had to take it off."

McGovern, who has a six-month-old daughter, tweeted: "As much as I've loved doing a lockdown show at home I never expected it to go on this long.

"We've decided it's time to have a break and give my family our home back."

She added that she hopes to resume broadcasting from the new studios "in a couple of months, once they're safely up and running".

Katz added: "We want to wait until we can get into the studio and produce the show we want to make. We will be producing the original Steph Show as soon as possible."

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The final lockdown version of the show will be aired on 7 May, but McGovern joked that she "may still be wearing slippers" when she moves to the studio.

The Steph Show has recently been attracting around 160,000 viewers per day - much lower than rival shows like This Morning, Loose Women and Bargain Hunt.

Since the lockdown, a number of TV, radio and podcast hosts have been broadcasting from home, while others have been in studios while adhering to social distancing rules.

A Channel 4 spokesperson said: "The Steph Show will be back on air later this year when it will be broadcast live from Leeds Dock as always planned."