The hugely popular Channel 4 show Gogglebox has been met with some controversy after a former employee on the series said it was "the worst job" they ever took.
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While the current cast members on the show have yet to share their own filming experiences, Chris Ashby-Steed, who left the series in 2018, has opened up to HELLO! about his time on Gogglebox, revealing that he "wasn't treated well".
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He explained: "I wasn’t treated well and it’s taken me a long time to get over the effects it had on my mental health... I’d rather not rake it all up again."
Speaking to the Mirror back in 2019 about why he left the show, Chris alleged that his co-star Stephen had terminated a new production company offer they have been considering without telling him, which led to him eventually quitting the show. He explained: "After he sent that email I didn’t speak to him for a little while because I was hurt by it.
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"Then the studio called and said they would like to offer us the position back on Gogglebox. I spoke to Stephen and his attitude was ‘I’m not sure I can put up with you every other week filming’. Which was a bit of a blow."
Gogglebox producers were initially going to let both Chris and Stephen continue on the show separately, but according to Chris, they said that the person he had wanted to star with "wasn't going to work". Stephen now appears on the show with his husband, Daniel Lustig.
Chris spoke to HELLO! about his time on the show
An unnamed Gogglebox employee spoke to The Guardian about their experience back in January, saying: "People have had enough. You don't turn up to work to be screamed at for 12 hours a day. It was the worst job I ever did. The way that it's made is inhumane at times."
In response to the accusations, a spokesperson for the production company told HELLO!: "Studio Lambert takes the welfare of its teams extremely seriously across all its productions," adding that they have "a number of measures in place to encourage people to come forward with any concerns they may have, as well as support systems for a range of issues".
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