Viewers of Stephen Mangan’s Fortune Hotel were on edge when Wednesday’s episode ended on a cliff-hanger. Meanwhile, other TV watchers were infuriated by one detail.

ITV viewers were distracted from the Fortune Hotel case swaps by the many adverts that interrupted the program.

Eight pairs are searching for the staggering £250k cash prize while also avoiding the dreaded Early Checkout Card and on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, presenter Stephen Mangan threw them off by letting them know a whopping £10k could be withdrawn from the winning case for contestants to keep.

The fortune hunters were then asked to complete a water sports challenge during which they were asked to collect cans while rushing down a river in a rubber ring. Sadly, this wasn’t enough entertainment for viewers who were appalled by the number of ad breaks.

Many frustrated TV fans swarmed over to X, otherwise known as Twitter, as they shared their exasperation. “These adverts are coming faster than those rapids”, one of them commented, while another fumed: “there was literally an advert 5 minutes ago. This is a joke.” A third viewer then questioned: “why are there so many adverts on.”

Fortune Hotel viewers have had the same complaint since the show first aired on Monday, May 13, 2024. One of them penned at the time, as they threatened to switch off: “note to self – never watch #TheFortuneHotel live. Just record it and **** the adverts.”

Another had agreed: “The Fortune Hotel is basically just The Traitors with adverts”, while a third viewer seethed: “the adverts are on longer than the bastard programme.” Fans had similar concerns the following day as one added: “have they increased the amount of adverts on ITV as it’s taking ages to get through live episodes now!!”

ITV viewers were seething as The Fortune Hotel was interrupted by multiple ad breaks

Another had then warned bosses: “not a bad idea, the swapping element is good, but it’s heavily borrowing from the traitors, and the frequency of adverts completely kills the flow.”

Despite this and a strong resemblance with The Traitors, viewers are growing increasingly eager as they continue to tune into the new series. On Tuesday, May 14, many of them were left stunned as Welsh contestants Abbie and Tracey left the Lady Luck bar under explosive circumstances as the eighteen-year-old clashed with fellow contestant Jo-Ann following her elimination.

This Wednesday, however, Stephen Mangan signed off on a cliff-hanger with fortune holders Jo-Ann and Will having to swap cases with Michael and Adam, while Lesley and Gary were dreading elimination. Fortune Hotel attracted the biggest audience at 9pm during its second episode (1.3 million viewers), hinting at a rapidly growing success after Monday’s debut, which appealed to a total of 1.5 million viewers.

Fortune Hotel will be back on Thursday, May 16, at 9pm, but viewers will then have to wait until May 20, for another instalment. The eight-parter is due to end on Thursday, May 23.