Where can I watch Footballers’ Wives? TV drama cast with Gary Lucy and Laila Rouass and when is it on Britbox

Cult favourite TV show Footballers’ Wives will be available to watch in its entirety when it arrives on BritBox later this month.

The streaming service revealed that the TV show has been one of its most requested titles.

First broadcast in 2002, the show became a fan favourite thanks to its wild storylines and loveable characters.

Here’s all you need to know about where you can watch Footballers’ Wives in the UK.

Where can I watch Footballers’ Wives?

All five series of Footballers’s Wives will be available to watch on BritBox on 26 August.

Footballers’ Wives: Extra Time will also be added to the streaming service on 26 August 2021.

BritBox said Footballers’ Wives has been “one of the most frequently requested” shows since the UK service launched, meaning the addition of every episode ever produced should be great news for subscribers.

What is Footballers’ Wives about?

First broadcast on ITV in 2002, the show is a soap opera primarily focused on characters Tanya Turner (Zoë Lucker) and Jackie Pascoe (Gillian Taylforth).

Both their partners play for the fictional Earls Park Football Club, and the show fictionalised the dramatic ups and downs that come with their lavish lifestyle.

Also in the cast was Alison Newman, Laila Rouass and Gary Lucy.

The show was a huge success when it first premiered, arriving at a point when the tabloids were becoming increasingly obsessed with real life football couples like David and Victoria Beckham and the Coles.

Footballers’ Wives also featured a crossover with ITV series Bad Girls when Tanya Turner attends prison on a charge of drug possession in the third series of the show.

The series was eventually cancelled in 2006 after its fifth series.

The success of the show spawned a spin-off show, Footballers’ Wives: Extra Time on ITV2.

A possible full revival of the series is still a way off though, as producer Liz Lake said in 2019 that there were no plans for it to return to TV.

She told Radio Times: “If there’s an appetite for it, and enough people want it, it would be worth having that conversation.

“Whatever job I do, I get people telling me they loved Footballers’ Wives. It was an escape and a bit of refreshing camp, but it was still really bold storytelling.

“I think we’d prefer to have an update than a reboot, a revival moving it forward.

“It’s more than just nostalgia, it’s about seeing what life is like now.”

How have fans reacted to the news?

Long-time fans of the soap opera have rejoiced at the news of the show’s availability on BritBox, with several taking to Twitter to share their happiness.

“One fan wrote: I can’t wait to get BritBox to watch "Footballers Wives’ !!! And other endless repeats you can watch for free... “

Another said: “They’re talking about Footballers’ Wives on This Morning and I swear there’s never been - and never will be - another tv programme like that. Iconic.”

Another fan of the show said she will be taking out a subscription on BritBox just to be able to watch the show.