Gordon Ramsay’s primetime game show Bank Balance has been slammed by viewers following its lacklustre debut on Wednesday.
The series, which was lambasted on social media for its ‘annoying’ contestants, ‘confusing’ rules and ‘cringe-worthy’ banter, kicked off with just 2.7 million viewers, being beaten out by the finale of ITV rival The Bay.
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.
Rough start: Gordon Ramsay’s primetime game show Bank Balance has been slammed by viewers following its lacklustre debut on Wednesday
Bank Balance left viewers decidedly unimpressed when it launched earlier this week, 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.’
![Struggle: The series, which was lambasted on social media for its 'annoying' contestants, 'confusing' rules and 'cringe-worthy' banter, kicked off with just 2.7 million viewers](https://i0.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/09/39793750-9303173-image-a-17_1614331443367.jpg?resize=634%2C472&ssl=1)
Struggle: The series, which was lambasted on social media for its ‘annoying’ contestants, ‘confusing’ rules and ‘cringe-worthy’ banter, kicked off with just 2.7 million viewers
![We don't like it! Bank Balance left viewers decidedly unimpressed when it launched earlier this week, with many fans questioning the show's 'slow moving' format and 'cheap set'](https://i0.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/25/09/39750790-9298695-image-a-9_1614246612244.jpg?resize=634%2C537&ssl=1)
We don’t like it! Bank Balance left viewers decidedly unimpressed when it launched earlier this week, with many fans questioning the show’s ‘slow moving’ format and ‘cheap set’
![](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/09/39750778-9303173-image-a-19_1614331534532.jpg?resize=634%2C205&ssl=1)
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![We don't like it! Viewers were left unimpressed and questioned how the TV show was ever commissioned](https://i1.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/09/39750794-9303173-image-a-30_1614331617065.jpg?resize=634%2C226&ssl=1)
We don’t like it! Viewers were left unimpressed and questioned how the TV show was ever commissioned
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.
![](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/09/39795102-9303173-image-a-41_1614333113061.jpg?resize=634%2C454&ssl=1)
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![Look familiar? 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](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/09/39794956-9303173-Look_familiar_Others_were_quick_to_compare_the_eye_catching_gold-a-40_1614333104935.jpg?resize=634%2C451&ssl=1)
Look familiar? 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
‘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.
![](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/10/39795514-9303173-image-a-61_1614333961695.jpg?resize=634%2C126&ssl=1)
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![How do you follow it? Although Gordon declared the instructions 'simple', viewers were left baffled, with some comparing it to Friends' fictional game show 'Bamboozled',](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/10/39794970-9303173-image-a-59_1614333823012.jpg?resize=634%2C119&ssl=1)
How do you follow it? Although Gordon declared the instructions ‘simple’, viewers were left baffled, with some comparing it to Friends’ fictional game show ‘Bamboozled’,
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.’
![](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/10/39794962-9303173-image-a-62_1614334024830.jpg?resize=634%2C164&ssl=1)
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![I can't watch it! Many viewers admitted they struggled to make it through the show as they found the contestants too 'annoying' and indecisive](https://i0.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/10/39794954-9303173-image-a-64_1614334042703.jpg?resize=634%2C194&ssl=1)
I can’t watch it! Many viewers admitted they struggled to make it through the show as they found the contestants too ‘annoying’ and indecisive
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.
![Something positive? 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](https://i1.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/09/39750782-9303173-image-a-33_1614331635191.jpg?resize=634%2C225&ssl=1)
Something positive? 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
![New series: The show sees a team of two contestants answer questions from 12 subject categories and are rewarded with bars of gold for correct answers (pictured, the bars)](https://i1.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/25/10/39750776-9298695-The_show_sees_a_team_of_two_contestants_answer_questions_from_12-a-22_1614247425123.jpg?resize=634%2C351&ssl=1)
New series: The show sees a team of two contestants answer questions from 12 subject categories and are rewarded with bars of gold for correct answers (pictured, the bars)
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’.’
![Dramatic: 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](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/09/39750774-9303173-Dramatic_As_it_s_accrued_the_bullion_must_be_strategically_stack-a-35_1614331690604.jpg?resize=634%2C362&ssl=1)
Dramatic: 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
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 tonight at 9pm on BBC One.
![Scary: Get the weighting wrong and the whole lot crashes to the ground, meaning it's game over; but get the balance right – and the pair can win the jackpot of £100,000](https://i1.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/26/09/39750772-9303173-Get_the_weighting_wrong_and_the_whole_lot_crashes_to_the_ground_-a-34_1614331643465.jpg?resize=634%2C354&ssl=1)
Scary: Get the weighting wrong and the whole lot crashes to the ground, meaning it’s game over; but get the balance right – and the pair can win the jackpot of £100,000