RIP Mike and Edd? Edd China Announces He's Leaving 'Wheeler Dealers'

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Could we be approaching the end of one of the best car shows in history? Edd China has announced that he will be leaving Wheeler Dealers because he's not happy with the direction that the show is going in.

In a surprisingly candid video that he posted on Youtube, China explained that he has loved the show so much over the last 12 seasons, but more recently, when Discovery/Velocity took over, they ruined the show.

Avid watchers could see how different the show became when it switched from being a small British show run by a local company to an overproduced show by Discovery.

China said that Discovery tried to cut costs by reducing the actual amount of car work done on the show, although it's unclear what they planned to replace it with.

It has been noticeable that in the latest US seasons of Wheeler Dealers, Edd and Mike have been spending less time in the workshop and more time at experts' shops and other locations.

Here's some of Ed's statement:

It was exactly the worldwide popularity of Wheeler Dealers and sheer size of the audience, coupled with the lack of product placement and brand endorsements within the show which meant that Discovery US and Velocity Channel saw an opportunity for further exploitation of the brand and so, after season twelve, the show commission was taken over by Velocity Channel in the US, who decided to replace Attaboy TV with Discovery Studios in California.

Edd further suggested that he wasn't happy with the commercialization of the show -- adding product placements, and brand endorsements.

It looks like the show will continue to be produced with Mike Brewer and Ant Anstead. But we have pretty low expectations -- the show won't be the same without Edd.

Looks like we'll be seeing another 'New Top Gear' situation -- and a mass exodus of fans.

In our opinion, Mike Brewer's best bet at this point is to drop Wheeler Dealers and just do Wheeler Dealers: Trading Up, which was quite an interesting, if short-lived, show.

Hopefully, we will see more of Edd in his upcoming projects.

Edd China