Gogglebox legend reveals he’s turned down chance to return to hit Channel 4 show
GOGGLEBOX legend Stephen Webb has revealed he’s turned down the chance of returning to the Channel 4 show.
Stephen, 53, who starred on the hit programme between 2013 and 2023, declined the offer after bosses reached out last year.
The hairdresser had been approached to come back after being forced to pull out of Dancing On Ice with a broken ankle.
He told the Daily Star: “Gogglebox‘s producers got in touch and said, ‘As you haven’t done any other shows, you could come back to Gogglebox if you want.’ But I never followed it up.
“Ten years on the show is enough. I was like Ken Barlow. I’d had more line-ups than the Sugababes. It was time to go!”
He added: “I’ll always be part of the Gogglebox family. I’m still in contact with everyone.
“Never say never to a return. If they asked me to go back for a special, I definitely would.”
He initially appeared alongside his friend and former partner Chris Steed, and subsequently his late mum Pat and ex-husband Daniel Lustig.
The Brighton-native announced his departure from Gogglebox in September 2023 after a decade of being a cast member.
Stephen revealed that he had grown “sick” of the show and felt it was time to move on after ten years.
He said at the time: “I was churning out the same old s***. I’d say to the guys, ‘Sorry, you’ll have heard this 10 times before.’
“I don’t know why they’ve not cottoned on. When I shoved the doughnut in my mouth and swallowed.
“I must have done that four times. It made it on every time.”
Stephen, whose Celebs Go Dating debut airs tonight on E4, split from Daniel in April.
Daniel opened up to The Sun in May following his split and said the pair had separated quietly 10 months before publicly announcing it.
Despite their marriage breakdown, the pair have remained good friends and still live together in their Brighton home.
Speaking to The Sun, Daniel said: “We’ve been together 11 years this June, we’ve done so much together – a year after moving in together, we opened up our salon and Gogglebox years later.
“We had such an amazing time, but towards the end, we realised we were really good friends.
“To split at this level now when you’re really good friends, we both felt it was a positive thing really.
“We split around 10 months ago, it’s always a massive adjustment and it’s been very hard for the two of us – we were finding our own time before we released anything
“It does take a while to get used to these things, especially when you marry someone, you think at times it will be forever.”
After over a decade together, the Channel 4 star admitted that they wanted to salvage a friendship after amicably parting ways.
Daniel shared: “We were keen that we would stay really good friends because we used to hang out all the time.
“It was a complete joint decision, we just had a good sit down chat about it quiet a few times.
“That’s always the difficult part, working through that and making sure you’re making the right decision. When you get married – you make that strong decision there – it’s not something you take lightly.
“There was nothing negative that happened, we were both very busy working and you just get really busy with your life and you look back and think ‘oh things have changed a bit’ and we need to chat.
“We never really argued at all. All my friends have said we’ve been very mature and grown up about this.
“It’s just one of those things, you’re together for over 10 years and you end up growing apart. That is always sad but to have that person who is still your friend, it would have been sad if it wasn’t like that.
“I don’t think any relationship has ever ended like this, it been lovely and amicable.
“We only finished Gogglebox a year ago and we were still going fine, but it got to the point where we needed to have a chat about this and we came to the agreement that we should start to ‘uncouple’ as they say.
“We’re doing a Gwyneth,” Daniel laughed as he referred to actress Gwyneth Paltrow‘s “unconscious uncoupling” with ex Chris Martin in 2015.
Gogglebox stars Stephen and Daniel's relationship timeline
Hairdressing duo Stephen Webb and Daniel Lustig got engaged back in 2016 and married two years later.
The couple co-own a hair salon and live in a £575,000 property on Brighton’s sought after seafront.
At the time of the engagement, Stephen appeared on Gogglebox alongside his ex-boyfriend Chris Ashby-Steed.
In 2019, Daniel made his Gogglebox debut and was immediately a big hit.
Chris, who is now in a happy relationship with husband Tony, spoke publicly about how the show affected his mental health.
Having relocated to Wales and quit showbiz, Chris said he was racked with anxiety during his time on the programme.
Just last year Daniel and Stephen shocked Gogglebox fans when they announced they were leaving the programme. Daniel had been part of the show since its launch in 2013.
Their departure opened up a new world of opportunity for the duo and it was soon announced that Stephen would take part in Dancing on Ice. But disaster struck and injury ruled him out before the live shows.
There were further gasps of shock in April when we revealed the pair had split up. They vowed to remain friends and looked to be true to their word, sharing a smiley picture the following day with Stephen’s mum on the seafront.