LONDON (Brand Republic) - Nigel Lythgoe, the man who brought Popstars to UK TV screens, has quit his job as controller of entertainment at ITV to head up a TV company set up by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller.
Lythgoe earned the title “Nasty Nigel” after he ruthlessly weeded out contestants from the show Popstars. One of his first briefs at 19TV will be to oversee the Popstars follow-up series, Pop Idol. The programme, to be screened on ITV, will be jointly produced by Pearson Television and 19TV.
Lythgoe is currently working in Borneo on secondment to Planet 24 for ITV’s next big reality-TV show, Survivor.