New Year culls set to hit the UK TV Guides

As is typical of a new year, tens of thousands of Britons are likely to spend the first few weeks of 2010 trying to shed a few pounds.
 
And while they've been busy down the gym or weighing up their next meals, TV bosses have been busy working to shed some stars, with some of the most familiar faces of the UK TV Guides set to bid farewell in the coming weeks.
 
Most notably of course, the BBC's Jonathan Ross, the host of the massively-popular Friday night chat show, as well as the leading film review show and a weekly radio programme, is set to leave the corporation, though in this instance it's a matter of Wossy having turned down a new contract rather than being shown the door.
 
In fact, the BBC doesn't seem to be that hard up, after all, as another of its leading stars signed a new multi-million pound contract in the New Year.
 
Though effectively representing a pay cut, Graham Norton's new deal will see the Irishman paid £4 million to stay on at the corporation until 2012, where he is expected to assume responsibility for hosting the 2010 Bafta Awards, as well as for fronting yet another televised search for new talent to perform in an Andrew Lloyd Webber West End musical.
 
But over at ITV1, things are a bit more severe.
 
With changes having recently been made at the top on GMTV, it seems that the axe man is on his way, with the Mirror having reported that at least one male and one female anchor are to disappear from the UK TV Guides within a matter of weeks as bosses look to cut their overheads.
 
Among those possibly in line for the chop are Ben Shepherd, Andrew Castle, Emma Crosby and even Kate Garraway.
 
A source at ITV told the paper: "Everyone is absolutely dreading the results of the review. There will very likely be some big-name casualties."
 
Meanwhile, one celebrity who is likely to cost Channel 4 significantly less is the DJ Tim Westwood, who has been linked with a move into the Big Brother House at some point of the final season of the show.
 
With the show having so far failed to capture the imagination of the nation, despite the fact that the millions of people snowed in effectively represent a captive audience for the likes of Vinny Jones and Alex Reid, it has been reported that the vicar's son and gangster rap aficionado has been given time off from his radio presenting duties to go into the house and stir things up a bit.