Has The Idol been cancelled? Is The Weeknd, Lily-Rose Depp and Sam Levinson HBO show ending early

It’s safe to say that HBO’s The Idol has been met with less than enthusiastic reviews, to put it lightly, since the first episode dropped on Sky Atlantic on 5 June. The show, starring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, has famously been mired in controversy and now that the first season is coming to an end, rumours have started circulating that The Idol has been cancelled early, with HBO cutting the season from six episodes to five. 

This is everything you need to know.

Has The Idol been cancelled early?

The Idol is not finishing earlier than expected, despite reports which claim the show has been suddenly cut from six episodes to five. 

The show was originally slated to have six episodes when it was still headed up by Amy Seimetz, the original director of The Idol. However, when Seimetz parted ways with the production, so too did the six episode version of the story.

Under Sam Levinson, The Idol appears to have always planned to wrap season one with five episodes. After Seimetz, the show was subjected to extensive rewrites, with the story seemingly condensed into five episodes. 

According to TVLine, a source said: “The season ended up being five episodes when it was all said and done after Sam [Levinson] took over and made significant changes. The story only ended up requiring five.” 

In a recent interview with GQ, Tesfaye described The Idol as a “five hour film”, and when it premiered at Cannes earlier this year, it was also billed as a five episode series - so reports of a mysterious sixth episode have been greatly exaggerated.  

Will there be a season two?

While a second season of the show is unlikely given the low viewership, bad ratings and general criticisms, an official announcement either way has not yet been made. 

On 15 June, the HBO communications team tweeted: “It is being misreported that a decision on a second season of The Idol has been determined. It has not, and we look forward to sharing the next episode with you Sunday night.” 

When is the finale?

In the UK, the last episode of The Idol - episode five - will drop on NOW TV and Sky Atlantic on Monday 3 July at 2am, with a subsequent repeat being aired later on at 9pm.