The Big Fish Off is a hit!

The buzz surrounding ‘The Big Fish Off’ reached fever pitch this week as hundreds of thousands tuned in to episode one of the new ITV series.

The first show of Series 2, screened on ITV4, set an overwhelmingly positive precedent for the rest of the collection of shows that co-presenter and executive producer Ali Hamidi says ‘will be even better’.

Bosses at the channel been delighted with the early figures, and Angling Times can revel that Ali has already signed up snooker legend Jimmy White, boxers Ricky Hatton and Kell Brook, footballer Bobby Zamora and professional darts player Adrian Lewis for future shows.

Building on the success of the first series, seen by over five million anglers and non-anglers alike, early viewing figures for the first instalment of the second series – not including those that watched it via available ‘catch-up’ facilities – have delighted everyone involved with the show.

“We couldn’t have wished for a better start for the series. We are flying high,” said Ali Hamidi.

“I had emails from the guys at ITV 4 soon after the first show hit the TV screens saying how over the moon they were with the response and the early viewing figures – you can’t do much more than that.

“There’s such a buzz about this show that celebrities wanting to star in the show are now contacting me directly. I had a twitter message from the boxer Tyson Fury, who would be perfect, but training for his up-and-coming fight with Wladimir Klitschko conflicted with possible filming dates.

“The list of guys that we’ve already earmarked for the next series just shows you what a following The Big Fish Off has, and this is only going to get bigger as series two unfolds.”

As Angling Times went to press, positive comments surrounding the second show – featuring former footballer and top TV pundit Mark Bright and fellow sports pundit DJ Spoony – were flooding social media sites including both Twitter and Facebook.