Paul O'Grady will front a "dirty" Saturday night talk show for ITV.

Paul O'Grady

Paul O'Grady

The 65-year-old presenter will take the reins of 'Paul O'Grady: Saturday Night Line-Up' from the autumn, even though he admitted when he shot a pilot episode - which has never been televised - in October 2019 that he thought the show was too rude to ever be commissioned by producers.

During filming, Paul took a swipe at other ITV presenters as he laughed: “This will never get to a series.

“It’s the dirtiest show that is possible on telly. It is too rude. But they want a bit of rudeness now.

“I mean who the f*** wants to watch Alan Titchmarsh? You know what they are like at ITV, they are a bit leg-crossed aren’t they? Phil and Holly – the pair who p*** themselves if somebody says ‘bum’.”

Seven episodes of the show have been commissioned, each lasting 45 minutes.

An ITV source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “It was very funny. We’ve ordered more episodes and they will stay close to the pilot. They’ll go out later this year, probably in the autumn.”

The shorter format is likely to please the 'For the Love of Dogs' host.

He previously quipped: “I can’t be doing with hour-long shows. I am in and out me.”

The programme will feature celebrity guests, who are likely to feel very involved in the show as when filming the pilot with Emma Bunton and Martin Kemp, Paul took a swipe at rival talk show host Graham Norton for only focusing on the biggest names on his sofa.

He said: “It is like 'The Graham Norton Show'; you are plonked on the end of the couch and, of course, who are you going to talk to? You have got Meryl Streep at that end, me at the other. He’s not going to talk to me, so I am sat there, bored t**less.”

The audience will get to question the guests, while Paul will subject them to “intriguing questions, scenarios and dilemmas”.

They will be also be asked to line up in order of “best to worst”, or “most to least likely”, in a variety of scenarios.

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