Comedian’s Sitcom Gets Canceled in the Midst of Her Divorce: Another Unfortunate Setback for Lucy Beaumont

Comedian Lucy Beaumont’s British sitcom Hullraisers has been canceled. Just weeks after Beaumont announced her divorce from Jon Richardson after nine years of marriage, Channel 4 confirmed early last month that the sitcom, written by Beaumont, Anne-Marie O’Connor, and Caroline Moran, was canceled after just two seasons.

Based on the Israeli series Little Mom, Hullraisers starred Leah Brotherhead, Sinead Matthews, and Taj Atwal as three women who live in Kingston upon Hull, England and explored “the hilarious and agonising reality of what it is to be a working class woman juggling work, kids, demanding friends, family and frustrating parents from the school playground – all whilst trying to have some fun too.” The series was generally well-received, debuting in 2022 to 1.15 million viewers, per Big Belly Comedy Club.

After The Sun reported that “the gang won’t be reunited for a third series, with a source saying the show is ‘two and done,’” a Channel 4 spokesperson confirmed to OK! in early May that the series had been canceled as it focuses on driving its streaming growth.

“We’re incredibly proud of Hullraisers and all it’s achieved, in particular, the show championed regional voices both on and off screen and was widely praised for its celebration of Hull and its authentic representation of Northern working-class women,” the spokesperson said. “As part of our Fast Forward strategy, we’re focused on giving Channel 4 viewers the best range of programming, innovating with new shows and driving our streaming growth. That means we have to think really carefully about which shows to return, rest, or conclude. We’d like to thank Fable Pictures, the wonderful cast and all those involved in the show’s success over the years and we look forward to working with them again on future projects.”

The series is one of several shows at Channel 4 to get the ax, with the network in April canceled its British reality series Scared of the Dark, hosted by Danny Dyer. Prior to that, the studio axed Studio Lambert’s Traitors-esque Rise and Fall and its version of U.S. History channel hit Alone.

The studio’s decision to cancel Hullraisers marked a major career setback for Beaumont as she continues to deal with personal matters. In a joint statement on April 12, the comedian and Richardson announced their decision to end their 9-year marriage, the former couple stating that the decision was made “jointly and amicably.” They added, “as our only priority is managing this difficult transition for our daughter, we would ask that our privacy is respected at this sensitive time to protect her well-being. We will be making no further comment.”

Beaumont and Richardson, who notably star alongside one another in Meet The Richardsons, first met after being set up by fellow comedian and After Life star Roisin Conaty, per YorkshireLive, and married in April 2015. They went on to welcome their daughter later that same year.