ITV show became too demanding

Harry Hill has revealed that he almost quit TV Burp last year.

He said that the demands of doing more than 20 shows a year took such a toll, he was ready to walk away from the lucrative programme.

Hill told TV Times that the eighth series, which aired from September 2008 to April 2009, was almost the final straw.

He explained: ‘One year we did 21 shows, and by the end I was in a really bad way.

‘It made me want to give it up, whereas if I was doing a shorter run, like this year, I would be happy to do it forever. It has to be fun, otherwise I might as well go back to being a doctor!

‘This is a very stressful time of year for me. It would be easy to coast and make the same show every week, and we could probably get away with it, but we are quite hard on ourselves. It's only of interest to me if we can make it different, otherwise it just becomes a money-making scheme, doesn't it?’

Earlier this year, the makers of TV Burp, Avalon Productions, signed a £5million deal series for two new eight-part series of the show, with Hill also agreeing to two more years of You’ve Been Framed.

TV Burp returned to ITV1 last night, with the second eight-part series made under the deal slated for next year.

Published: 10 Oct 2010