Three female celebrities have reportedly pulled out of the recording of the celebrity version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’

The celebrity special has been shelved following after female stars refused to work with host Jeremy Clarkson over misogynist and racist write up on duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle.

At least three female stars made it “very loud and very clear” that they did not want to be on TV with the host.

Filming in Manchester was postponed this month with the official line that it was on hold due to “scheduling issues” but behind the scenes of the ITV show, there was reported chaos as stars started backing out, fearing that their charity causes might be caught in a furore.

“ITV were left with no choice but to postpone the show.’’ The feelings were made very loud, and very clear. Namely that they didn’t want to share a platform with Clarkson and, in doing so, risk being seen to legitimise his misogynistic comments.

ITV declined to comment yesterday on the female stars pulling out.

The regular version of the show with Clarkson at host is being filmed. ITV sources say that while they are contractually commissioned to go ahead with it, there are “no further commissioning commitments”.

This could also indicate the celebrity version, described as “on hold”, could be quietly shelved. ITV sources said they could not confirm either way.

Clarkson has hosted the show since 2018 and still retains a lot of fans.

Meanwhile, the Press regulator (IPSO) is taking forward complaints by The Fawcett Society and The Wilde Foundation, which said they were affected by Clarkson’s breaches in accuracy, harassment and discrimination in the Sun Newspaper column about the Duchess of Sussex in December.

The watchdog received more than 25,000 complaints about the article.

A petition calling on ITV CEO Carolyn McCall for him to keep his job as host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has now hit 60,000 signatures.