Elizabeth Hurley’s new reality show The Inheritance has flopped with poor ratings, dealing a major setback to Channel 4.
The glossy series, where the actress portrays a wealthy heiress known only as “The Deceased,” drew just 540,000 viewers on Sunday night — placing it among the channel’s lowest-rated reality debuts.
Taking inspiration from BBC hit The Traitors, the show has contestants competing for the fortune left in The Deceased’s will, with Rob Rinder featuring as the lawyer. Although the premiere opened strong with a peak of 670,000 viewers in its first few minutes, it still fell well below the slot’s 890,000 average.
Austin Powers star Liz, 60, kicked things off by saying: “Hello darlings! I have some bad news. Are you ready? Here goes. I’m… dead.” For most of the programme, she appeared lying in a coffin, beautifully made-up. Reflecting on the unusual role, she admitted:
I’ve died on screen quite a few times, but I don’t recall lying in a coffin before. It was very restful, I quite enjoyed it actually.
However, viewers were left baffled by the format. Contestants took on challenges to win money, but many said they couldn’t make sense of the rules. One confused fan wrote: “Not sure about the rules of the game or the prize, or the end goal? So confused.” Another remarked: “The premise of The Inheritance sounded really good but it’s not really flowing very well.”
“Each task someone gets money. Then what? They stay in the game? They go home? What is happening?” one viewer questioned.
Viewers of the series premiere said they were left “incredibly bored” by the show, calling it “overly complicated,” hard to follow, and an obvious copy of other hit gameshows.
Many took to X to criticise it as “dismal viewing,” slamming the contestants as “unlikeable” and the overall concept as confusing. Comments included: “This is like The Traitors but it’s so tedious that not even the presenters want to attend the tasks.”; “So basically CH4 made The Traitors”; “I know only one episode in but was a bit boring.”
Others added: “Can’t decide if it’s a slow burner or just utter pish”; “This is rubbish. At least explain the premise to the viewers. All I see is a load of idiots shrieking that they are working the hardest.”
“I want to be objective and give the show a chance, but I’m 35 minutes in and thinking that it’s really s**t tv!”; “Feels like Temu Traitors”; “This is dismal viewing.”
Another complained: “The slow motion walk to the posh room in the country house. It’s not even trying to be anything other than a Traitors rip off”; “They haven’t explained the rules, is there a prize and the end? Do they get out?”
Source: DailyMail.UK