Deal Or No Deal fans have insisted the show is “no longer running” as they criticized ITV bosses for making a major change.

The popular British game show first aired from 2005 to 2016 on Channel 4 and was presented by Noel Edmonds.

After seven years off air, ITV revived the show and its launch episode aired in November last year with Stephen Mulhern in the lead.

Deal Or No Deal, which originally ran for 11 series, began with a top prize of £250,000, which nine contestants won by opening the famous red boxes.

However, when the show returned there was one notable difference: the jackpot had been reduced from a quarter of a million to £100,000.

Deal Or No Deal fans have insisted the show is “no longer running” as they criticized ITV bosses for making a major change.

The popular British game show, which originally ran for 11 series, began with a jackpot of £250,000, which nine contestants won by opening the famous red boxes.

But that’s not all, as viewers also noticed that the largest amounts of money available, which appear on the red side of the board, are considerably smaller.

On the discussion site Reddit, user Educational-Angle717 argued that the program “no longer works” because of this, explaining that the old red ones in the program cost £1,000, £3,000, £5,000, £10,000, £15,000, £20,000 . £35,000, £50,000, £75,000, £100,000 and £250,000.

By contrast, the new red ones cost £1,000, £2,000, £3,000, £4,000, £5,000, £7,500, £10,000, £25,000, £50,000, £75,000 and £100,000.

The forum user added: ‘What this means is that your chances of walking away with decent money are now incredibly limited.

‘Most offers seem to be between £1,000 and £3,000 maximum. They have lost much of the real danger.

Viewers have also noted that the lower prizes on multiple shows are likely due to budget cuts.

Leading Deal Or No Deal viewers to believe that the show is now “failing.”

Organic-Daydream agreed that “it takes a lot of money to make it even slightly interesting”, citing companies such as Tipping Point as an example, where the top prize is £10,000.

However, when the show returned there was one notable difference: the jackpot had been reduced from a quarter of a million to £100,000.

But that’s not all, as viewers also noticed that the reds have lost value.

Amounts such as £15,000 and £35,000 have disappeared

Another Reddit user also added that the game show is completely “luck-based” as it “doesn’t involve any skill or knowledge.”

Meanwhile, other viewers have argued that the change of presenters has also been detrimental to the classic show.

One former contestant recalled his time on the series saying, “I was on the original series.”

‘Stephen does a good job, but that show isn’t the same without Noel either. And you’re right, it’s hard to win anything like the big awards we used to see.’

However, it appears that the UK version is not the only version affected by the cost of living crisis, as the Australian edition has also significantly reduced its jackpot.

When the show first aired, there was a staggering £2 million on the table for hopeful contestants.

The show first aired from 2005 to 2016 on Channel 4 and was presented by Noel Edmonds; However, viewers have also argued that the change in presenters has been detrimental.

However, as the number of episodes began to increase, the prize unfortunately decreased to £200,000.

The show was then axed in 2013, however Channel 4 picked it up in 2024 and Grant Denyer became presenter.

It was then that the jackpot became £100,000 and players were also deprived of the chance to win a car, as previous contestants had done.

As for the UK format, despite dividing viewers, it has proven to be a success as in January this year, ITV renewed the revival for an extended second run alongside four celebrity specials.

Deal Or No Deal is available to watch on ITV1 and ITVX.