Celebrity MasterChef final is delayed to make way for blanket coverage of the Queen’s funeral

The BBC has rescheduled this year’s Celebrity MasterChef final following the death of Her Majesty the Queen, who will be buried on September 19. 

The broadcaster has reshuffled its scheduling calendar to accommodate blanket coverage of the late monarch’s death, final journey from Balmoral to Buckingham Palace and imminent burial in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Monday. 

The hasty change has resulted in Celebrity MasterChef, one of the more popular shows on the BBC roster, being pushed back – with two if its final five episodes airing back to back at 8:30pm on September 15. 

A further two episodes will air on Friday September 16 at 9:00pm, with its final episode – during which the winner will be announced, airing on Tuesday September 20 at 8:00pm, the day after Her Majesty is laid to rest. 

The show was originally set to air on Tuesday evening, only to be dropped in favour of The One Show’s tribute to the late royal – Our Queen Remembered. 

Celebrity MasterChef has suffered earlier programming  issues, with the show previously dropped to make way for royal coverage after it was scheduled to air on April 9, 2021 – the day of Prince Phillip’s death. 

Sombre: The broadcaster has reshuffled its scheduling calendar to accommodate blanket coverage of the late monarch’s death, final journey from Balmoral and imminent burial

Sad : Queen Elizabeth’s death at the age of 96 was announced by Buckingham Palace on Thursday

Elsewhere ITV cancelled five major daytime TV shows on Wednesday to make way for rolling news coverage of the Queen’s coffin being moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.

Popular shows including Loose Women and The Chase will no longer air in their usual slots as the broadcaster pays tribute to the late monarch, who passed away ‘peacefully’ aged 96, on Thursday.

With the UK having entered a period of mourning, TV schedules have been reshuffled so as to make way for special documentaries and ongoing news coverage – with Wednesday’s programming covering the Queen’s journey to London to lie in state.

Reshuffle: As a consequence Celebrity MasterChef, one of the more popular shows on the BBC roster, has been pushed back – with two if its final five episodes airing on September 15

Changes: ITV also cancelled five major shows on Wednesday to make way for rolling news coverage of the Queen’s coffin being moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall

Shows that have been removed from ITV’s schedule are Loose Women, Dickinson’s Real Deals, Tenable, Tipping Point and The Chase. 

ITV News: Queen Elizabeth II Lying-in-State will air from 1pm following an extended episode of This Morning, with the show running until 6pm. 

Over the weekend, ITV confirmed that their schedules will be disrupted during the period of mourning. 

Not happening: ITV’s Loose Women will not air in its usual place on Wednesday, with ITV News: Queen Elizabeth II Lying-in-State airing from 1pm following This Morning

News: TV schedules have been reshuffled to make way for special documentaries and news coverage – with Wednesday’s programming covering the Queen’s journey to lie in state 

In a statement they said: ‘ITV’s main channel will continue to make changes to its schedule to broadcast the important state events of the coming days culminating in the historic state funeral with extensive and dedicated news coverage from our news teams.

‘ITV will also be showing a number of documentaries about the Queen and the new King over the coming days. No advertising will run during any of the Royal coverage. 

‘ITV will reintroduce some of its normal programming over the next few days to provide our viewers with the range of shows that they expect to see on the main ITV channel.

‘Further changes to the schedule will be announced in due course.’

Queen Elizabeth’s death at the age of 96 was announced by Buckingham Palace on Thursday.