ITV announces channel showing TOWIE will come off air in June (2025)

It will be replaced by a new one with a different theme

ITV has announced that the channel ITVBe will close in June 2025, and shift its reality shows, including The Only Way Is Essex (Towie), to ITV2. The broadcaster also said the channel slot will be replaced with ITV Quiz, which will focus on ITV’s quiz and game shows.

A statement said: "ITV2 will now officially become the linear home of all of ITV’s best-known reality series, as The Only Way is Essex, The Real Housewives of Cheshire and Real Housewives franchises from around the world move from ITVBe to the UK’s most successful digital channel for 16-34s, in June 2025.

"TOWIE and RHOCH join a rich schedule of returning formats, including Love Island and Big Brother, and exciting new commissions which are lined up throughout the remainder of 2025 on ITV2, and will continue to stream on ITVX. The supercharged ITV2 offering also includes animated comedies (Family Guy) original commissions (G’Wed and Transaction) blockbuster movies and younger skewing factual entertainment, like Olivia Attwood’s Price of Perfection, which are all also strong performers on ITVX.

"Both Love Island and Big Brother are due to return in the summer and autumn months respectively, alongside a second series of Olivia Attwood’s Bad Boyfriends, following its talked about debut series in 2024. The Only Way Is Essex will turn 15 meanwhile with a celebratory Autumn series. The move to ITV2 marks a homecoming for TOWIE as part of its 15th anniversary year, having initially debuted its first 12 series on ITV2."

ITV said the reality genre "provides some of the most highly consumed programming on ITV2 and ITVX". It said Love Island and all of its spin-offs had been streamed 2.2 billion times.

Big Brother in all its forms had now been streamed more than 100 million times since coming to ITV in 2023. The Only Way Is Essex remains one of ITVX’s most-streamed titles, with streaming reaching 66 million over the last 12 months, the broadcaster said.

The statement continued: "Additionally, ITV2 consistently produces the biggest shows for the 16-34 audience - last year, Love Island celebrated over 400 shows as the most popular series for this demographic. In Q1 of this year ITV2 further cemented its success with young audiences, overtaking Channel 4 for 16-34 year old viewers and maintaining its place as the UK’s most watched digital channel for 16-34 year olds.

"Forthcoming new commissions include a reunion for siblings Sam Faiers and Billie Shepherd in Sam & Billie: Sister Act (produced by Potato, part of ITV Studios). The series marks Sam’s return to TV for the first time since 2021 when she stepped away from the hit ITVBe series Sam & Billie:The Mummy Diaries. Following which, Billie continued the franchise with Billie & Greg: The Family Diaries from 2021 to 2024. Now, the sisters reunite to showcase their personal and professional lives as they navigate the next phase of their careers, relationships and motherhood.

"As the flagship commissions move across to their ITV2 broadcast home, ITV will retire the ITVBe brand from its portfolio in June 2025. ITV plans to use the channel slot as ITV Quiz, drawing on ITV's popular, market-leading UK quiz and game shows, and the success and learnings of ITVX FAST channels."