Gordon Ramsay’s Bank Balance ‘faces the chop after just TWO WEEKS on air amid poor ratings’

Gordon Ramsay’s new primetime game show Bank Balance is reportedly facing the chop after just two weeks on air amid poor ratings.

The chef’s show kicked off on February 24th with over two million viewers, but that number rapidly dropped to just 1.6 million within two days.

And now BBC bosses are said to be considering pulling the plug on the game show as it’s been ‘an unmitigated disaster’. 

A source told The Daily Star: ‘Bank Balance has been an unmitigated disaster. Gordon is having a nightmare that’s worse than anything he’s dealt with in the kitchen. His attempt at a new career has fallen flat.

‘The top brass at the BBC are already saying they don’t know if they want to commit to a second series. Its future is hanging in the balance.’ 

The new show is said to have been a big gamble for the channel amid its big budget and primetime slot three nights per week.

But it’s said that bosses are yet to make a decision on the series, with a BBC spokesperson stating to the publication: ‘It’s still on air with another week to go, so there is obviously no decision yet.’

MailOnline have contacted a representative of the BBC, who declined to comment.  

It comes after Bank Balance reportedly suffered a huge ratings disaster this week after losing 1 million viewers in just two days.

The BBC show kicked off at the end of February with 2.7 viewers tuning in, but days later, it is said that number had rapidly dropped to just 1.6 million. 

The show was also lambasted on social media for its ‘annoying’ contestants, ‘confusing’ rules and  ‘cringe-worthy’ banter.

Gordon’s newest game show saw two teams of contestants answer questions in an attempt to accrue gold bars, which were balanced on a see-saw in the hope of winning a jackpot £100,000.

But it seemed the new format wasn’t enough to keep people glued to their screens, with it being reported that BBC bosses took a huge gamble in placing the show in the primetime 9pm slot for three nights a week.

A source from a rival broadcaster told The Mirror: ‘Even if they wanted to stick Ramsay in an earlier slot their hands are tied because of the swearing.

‘You can’t be impressed with those numbers for 9pm on BBC1.’

MailOnline have contacted the BBC for comment.

Bank Balance was beaten out in the ratings by the finale of ITV rival The Bay.

While other games shows such as The Chase attracted 4.4 million on last Wednesday’s 5pm show, while Danny Dyer’s The Wall pulled in about 4 million watchers.

It comes after Bank Balance left viewers decidedly unimpressed when it launched last month, with many fans questioning the show’s ‘slow moving’ format and ‘cheap set.’

Others were quick to compare the eye-catching gold set to the TARDIS, a famous time machine that featured on BBC’s sci-fi staple Doctor Who. 

TV critics were similarly damning, with the Daily Mail’s Christopher Stevens giving the show a two-star rating. 

‘I think it’s one and done for me with #GordonRamsaysBankBalance,’ tweeted one viewer. ‘There’s no excitement or pace to the show everything feels laboured and takes way to long plus the rules need changing.’  

Another wrote: ‘Lol I’m cringing already. Stick to cooking Gordon,’ with a third adding: ‘Goodness knows how this show ever got past the pilot stage.’

One unconvinced fan tweeted: ‘Managed 12 minutes of #BankBalance before turning over. I fear that #TheWheel has set a new bar for TV quiz shows for me and this come up way short.’ 

‘Why is there a c***y lunchtime BBC quiz on at 9pm? Just show more Reggie Perrin or Line of Duty for gawds sake!’ one wrote.

‘#gordonramsaysbankbalance is slow moving and boring. But more alarming is how thick the contestants are’, a viewer tweeted. 

‘Should have done this without the cameras there, would have been better for us all…’ another posted.

Noting the show’s unusual set, one fan posted: ‘Why has Gordon Ramsay’s Bank Balance got a better TARDIS set than Doctor Who?’

A second wrote: ‘Gordon Ramsay seems to be hosting this ridiculously complicated game show from the rejected set for the TARDIS.’

The show sees a team of two contestants  answer questions from 12 subject categories and are rewarded with bars of gold for correct answers. 

As it’s accrued, the bullion must be strategically stacked on a precariously balanced platform like a four-way seesaw so that the stacks stay standing. 

Get the weighting wrong and the whole lot crashes to the ground, meaning it’s game over for that team; but get the balance right – as well as negotiating the 12 rounds of questions – and the pair can win the jackpot of £100,000.

Although Gordon declared the instructions ‘simple’, viewers were left baffled.  

Some compared it to Friends’ fictional game show ‘Bamboozled’, which had famously convoluted rules.

One posted: ‘Gordon running through how the game #GordonRamsaysBankBalance works made me think of Joey and Bamboozled in @FriendsTV Far too confusing.’  

Another wrote: ‘That was so f*****g hard to understand,’ with a third adding: ‘Just in case you’re not sure how Gordon Ramsay’s Bank Balance works, here’s a brief explanation.’

Many viewers admitted they struggled to make it through the show as they found the contestants too ‘annoying’ and indecisive. 

‘Most annoying contestants. Got so wound up by them I switched over. Flicked back later hoping they improved but NO they were still bickering! Love you Gordon but no thanks to your new game show,’ said one disgruntled viewer/

‘Could have been a great show but spoilt by genuinely the thickest, most annoying contestants that they could possible have chosen. Literally willing for them to lose big,’ another penned.

‘#BankBalance concept is okay, but the contestants are really annoying!’ said a third.

Others complained about Ramsay’s lack of ease with the contestants and pointed out he looked uncomfortable on set.

One posted: ‘Lol I’m cringing already. Stick to cooking Gordon #gordonramsaysbankbalance.’  

In his review, Stevens pointed to Ramsay’s apparent unease on set, writing: ‘It’s obvious within minutes that he doesn’t have the telly skills for this show, because he simply cannot think on his feet. Without a scripted quip, he’s floundering, ten seconds behind the action. 

‘His first contestants, brother and sister Tosin and Tobi, were a polished double act of noisy show-offs. Bickering like children, they’d have been a gift to a real gameshow host. Alexander Armstrong and Joe Lycett wake up praying for a couple like this in the studio.

‘Gordon had no idea what to do with them. He behaved like a maitre d’ in a restaurant, politely waiting to one side until his customers finish having their public row. Simpering with embarrassment, he chipped in: ‘Psst! I’m still here, you know’.’ 

However a handful of Twitter users were pleased to see Ramsay taking on a new role, with one saying she ‘lives’ for him as a game show host. 

Bank Balance was only beaten by ITV in its time slow, with 3.38 million viewers tuning for the final episode of The Bay, while 1.41 million turned on BBC Two for the documentary Trump Takes on the World.

The show also lost half the viewers that had tuned in for The Repair Shop, which drew a solid 5.2 million when it aired on BBC One an hour earlier.

BBC bosses have taken a huge gamble on Bank Balance by airing the 10-part series in its prime slot of 9pm for three nights each week.

Its launch numbers were decidedly lower than other game shows on the channel, including Michael Jackson’s The Wheel, which earned around five million viewers, and Danny Dyer’s The Wall, which pulled in four million. 

Gordon Ramsay’s Bank Balance continues Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One.