
Si King's first 'major solo project' since Dave Myers' death announced by Channel 4
Channel 4 is set to spice up its lifestyle programming with a fresh trio of shows, including a railway adventure series led by Hairy Bikers ' Si King.
The upcoming four-part series, tentatively titled Top Of The Stops, will see Si King, 58, delve into the vast network of over 2,600 train stations across the UK, engaging with the dedicated individuals who keep these hubs running smoothly.
Produced by the Welsh company Yeti Television, the show promises to take viewers on a journey through some of Britain's most unique train stations, with King accompanied by transport historian Siddy Holloway and architect Damion Burrows.
Clemency Green, Channel 4 's senior commissioning editor for lifestyle, expressed excitement about the project: "As the rail network turns 200 years old, this series will spotlight the best of our country's engineering history in a different way.
"We're honoured Si will be presenting his first series for More4, and Yeti will no doubt deliver a captivating series that viewers will love to escape into."
Since Hairy Bikers co-star and best friend Dave Myer's death in 2024, Si has continued to honour his legacy, participating in a final Hairy Bikers program titled The Hairy Bikers: You'll Never Walk Alone, which aired in December 2024.
In January 2025, he joined ITV's This Morning as a regular chef on their cooking segments. Now, almost two years after Dave's death, the star will be fronting his own adventure series on Channel 4.
Another addition to the lineup is What Not To Eat, where Dr Tim Spector, alongside Dr Kandi Ejiofor, will guide viewers towards healthier eating by providing nutritious alternatives to junk food, ready meals, and other ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
In each episode of the four-part series, a British family grappling with health issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and more will be featured.
Spector, at 67, shared his concerns: "It's hard for people to make good dietary choices when what they're sold as 'healthy' food, in my view, can hardly be defined as food at all.
"I passionately believe that even quite modest changes to our diet can have a big impact on our health, and I cannot wait to get started on this new series where I'm going to try and change people's lives by changing what they eat."
In other news, design guru George Clarke will be tackling home improvement challenges in his upcoming show, George Clarke's Kitchen Vs Garden.
At 51, Clarke teams up with garden design maestro Luke Millard for the series, which sees homeowners grappling with tough design decisions.
George Clarke's Kitchen Vs Garden will premiere on Wednesday August 13 at 8pm on Channel 4.
Top Of The Stops and What Not To Eat are set to grace Channel 4 screens later this year and in 2026, respectively.
Green added: "Together, these new titles demonstrate the strategic ambition of Channel 4 lifestyle's commissioning approach: engaging specialist communities, sparking national conversation, celebrating everyday life, and offering unmissable entertainment.
"From trains to fast food culture to home renovations, this new slate reflects the broad spectrum of knowledge Channel 4 talent bring to our portfolio, offering audiences what they love, wherever they watch."
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Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
I worked on The Big Breakfast - one presenter hated the chaos on set and there's a simple reason we could NEVER make a show like it now
A former The Big Breakfast worker has lifted the lid on the 'shambolic' scenes on set - and the simple reason a show like it could never be made today. Beverley Cuddy is the editor of Dogs Today magazine and has appeared on the show numerous times with canine-related content. The Big Breakfast first aired in 1992, redefining morning television with its contagious energy and chaotic charm. Broadcast live from a real house in East London, the Channel 4 show marked a radical departure from the polished presenters and professional scripts of traditional breakfast shows. Instead, the daytime slot relied on a faster paced, slapstick humour and unpredictable antics to draw viewers in. The show launched the careers of an array of presenters, including Chris Evans, Gaby Roslin, Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen. It also featured appearances from Hollywood A-listers, like Britney Spears, Samuel L. Jackson and Beyoncé. Speaking on behalf of Smooth Spins, journalist Beverley said the show would never work today owing to its 'shambolic' nature. 'It was so wonderfully chaotic and shambolic,' she said. 'Nowadays, you'd have to sign so many releases, and it would be a health and safety nightmare. It was a great time in television, and I look back on it fondly.' Beverley described an incident when her magazine was running a campaign to stop cosmetic tail docking, and the Big Breakfast producers decided to do a 'Rear Of The Year' segment showing dogs' natural tails. 'They had a massive garden, so they encouraged us to invite as many dogs as possible,' she said. 'The night before the segment, the man who ran the actual Rear Of The Year threatened to sue. 'It caused a bit of drama, and we had to scramble around and come up with a new name and rebrand everything.' Beverley told how, once, the producers wanted her to help with a prank on journalist Esther Rantzen. 'She was hosting a lot of shows that celebrated dogs who could do amazing things, so they thought it would be funny if we presented her with a load of dogs who couldn't do anything. 'They also wanted one of the dogs to be a cat, so my deputy Claire insisted her cat Nobby go on,' Beverley continued. 'He was stressed during the journey to the house, so he peed all over her, and then he ran off during the segment. I think Claire got so stressed, so she told the presenter Zoe Ball to f*** off live on air.' But the show bosses embraced the chaos, and Beverley insisted the 'loved it when things went wrong.' 'No one was precious,' she added. 'The presenters were all normal and got on with everyone on set. 'Some of the presenters, like Paul O'Grady and Mark Little, were natural comedians, so they rose to the challenge.' But, according to Beverley, not every brain behind the show was comfortable with the madness. 'Zoe Ball was a bit more of a traditional presenter, so she always seemed a bit stressed when things didn't go to plan.' Of presenter Paul O'Grady, Beverley said the 'kind and genuine' drag queen and comedian was wonderful to work with. 'He was amazing as Lily [Savage, his drag persona] and so quick-witted. If anything went wrong, he handled it like a pro. 'You could tell back then how much he loved dogs, so it was wonderful that he went on to be involved so heavily with them.' When asked what the presenters were like off camera, Beverley responded: 'I went on the show so much that I worked with pretty much all the different hosts throughout the years. Everyone was really lovely and charming.' A special feature of the Big Breakfast show was the London brick house in which it was filmed. An eccentric location for an equally eccentric programme, Beverley calls the filming site 'dingy' and 'grim'. 'I have no idea why they picked that location,' she laughed. 'It was a dingy house and not in great condition. 'It was not photogenic, and the bits you didn't see off camera were worse. It was dirty and certainly not flash. 'I don't ever remember there being space for make-up artists or anything like that. It was cramped, and there were so many windows that they probably affected the lighting. The location made everything harder.' Beverley remembers one of the more memorable segments from the show where the focus was dogs that look like real people, based on a feature her magazine had run. 'The Big Breakfast loved it, so we were tasked with finding dogs that looked like the presenters. 'We found a red Griffon Bruxellois that looked like Chris Evans and a beautiful Afghan Hound that was Gabby Roslin. 'We brought the dogs to the house and, during an ad break, the dogs took the place of the presenters. They all behaved amazingly well. 'We also did this wild segment around the time of a general election, where we had to ask everyone at Crufts how their dogs would vote. 'We had a ballot boxer, which was a ballot box in the shape of a dog, and we invited politicians to be interviewed and tell us their dogifestos.' Beverley's time on the show was not without its star-studded moments. For one competition segment, she was on a judging panel with 'someone from Pink Floyd', and the host was Paul O'Grady as Lily Savage. And The Big Breakfast even saw young stars before catching their big break. 'I'm not sure if our paths crossed on The Big Breakfast, but Tom Hardy was on the show as a young model and must have seen our segments because he reached out and was desperate to get his dogs in our magazine,' Beverley remembered. 'None of us knew who he was at the time, but he'd call us every week. We kept fobbing him off, but then we agreed to let a work experience girl interview him. So that was Tom Hardy's first big interview.' It was not all glamour behind the scenes, Beverley says, and the guests were subjected to an experience as 'dingy' as the house. 'Some shows have green rooms, but The Big Breakfast had a rather dingy portacabin we were all crowded into. 'It was quite shabby. There was no hierarchy, and you were lucky if you had a cup of tea.' Among the eclectic mix of presenters, though, things were good. Beverley said Gabby Roslin and Chris Evans were 'so close.' She added: 'They were practically like brother and sister, and you could tell they really worked well as a pair.' As for Beverley herself, who became involved with the show through her friendship with newsreader Peter Smith, she got on best with presenter Chris. 'We still talk even now,' she said. 'Funnily enough, he reached out to me a few years after he'd left The Big Breakfast because he'd got a dog who became ill and sought the help of a vet who was doing pioneering surgery. 'He was so impressed, he asked me if Dogs Today would interview the vet. That vet turned out to be Noel Fitzpatrick, aka the Supervet. So that was a nice start to his now amazing career.'


Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Bonnie Blue's 'controversial' Channel 4 documentary '1000 Men and Me' suffers fresh blow as firms pull adverts as the content 'glamorises porn'
Bonnie Blue has taken another hit as her Channel 4 documentary '1000 Men and Me' has been snubbed by firms who have refused to run adverts alongside the programme. The show, which was broadcast on Tuesday, has been heavily criticised for glamorising porn and some companies have decided they don't want their products associated with the adult content star. And it's not just businesses, as the children's commissioner has also demanded the broadcaster remove adverts from the documentary. The shocking programme followed Bonnie Blue, real name Tia Bellinger, as she geared up to complete her goal of having sex with 1,000 men in 12 hours. The Channel 4 show followed the adult content creator, providing behind-the-scenes insight and interviews. However it has been criticised for failing to challenge the star or the men involved and the wider impacts on attitudes towards sex. The programme did not pixelate any nudity and included clips from Bonnie Blue's stunt including a snippet of the star having sex with three men at the same time. In reaction to the documentary, card payment service Visa, juice brand Cawston Press and vodka brand Smirnoff, which is owned by drinks company Diego, have told Channel 4 they did not want their products associated with the controversial content. They added they did not want their products promoted because it was not in line with their advertising guidelines and company values. The broadcaster has also been slammed for making the programme freely available to under-18s via the app and its on demand player despite it being shown at 10pm after the watershed. While viewers under 18-years-old are technically blocked from such content, there is no age verification process and the show was released just days after new rules were introduced to social media sites to improve children's online safety. Children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: 'This documentary risks taking us a step back by glamorising, even normalising, the things young people tell me are frightening, confusing and damaging to their relationships.' Ian Katz, chief content officer at Channel 4, defended the documentary, telling the Sunday Times that it is 'clearly a legitimate subject' as Bonnie Blue is a 'huge phenomenon' who has 'transformed the porn industry'. He also claimed Blue was sufficiently challenged about her actions in the programme. It comes after the star was kicked out of a Premier League game in May- but not before performing a vulgar gesture. The programme did not pixelate any nudity and included clips from Bonnie Blue's stunt including a snippet of the star having sex with three men at the same time Blue was ejected from the Chelsea away end as the team fought it out against Nottingham Forest for the a Champions League berth. Footage posted online showed a member of Forest's 'response team' speaking to a companion of Bonnie - before ushering the pair out. However, the adult actress mimicked a sex act before turning to leave - then stopped to bend over provocatively in front of the security guard. The clip was posted online with the caption 'Bonnie blue just got kicked out of the away end wtf' and shows fans booing as she was escorted out.


Scottish Sun
9 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Visa & Smirnoff demand Channel 4 pull their ads from Bonnie Blue documentary after viewers left outraged
VISA, Smirnoff and other businesses have demanded Channel 4 remove their adverts from their documentary about porn star Bonnie Blue. The film 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story, which was broadcast last Tuesday, was slammed by firms who did not want their products aligned with the controversial OnlyFans figure. 4 Bonnie Blue left viewers outraged in her new documentary Credit: Instagram/@bonnie_blue_xox 4 A slew of brands have demanded Channel 4 remove their ads from the programme Credit: Channel 4 The shocking documentary revealed behind-the-scenes footage for Bonnie Blue's desperate challenge where she aimed to sleep with 1,000 men in 12 hours. She ended the challenge having had sex with 1057 men, topping Lily Phillips' 100 men record. The documentary showed video of Blue, 26, real name Tia Billinger, having sex with three men simultaneously as well as showing the run-up to a schoolgirl-inspired orgy. Channel 4 has also been criticised for making the documentary freely available on its app and online where it is easily accessible by teenagers, outside of the television watershed. While people under 18 are technically blocked from watching the documentary, there is also no age verification process to prevent children from lying about their date of birth. Children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: 'This documentary risks taking us a step back by glamorising, even normalising, the things young people tell me are frightening, confusing and damaging to their relationships.' Ian Katz, chief content officer at Channel 4, defended the documentary, telling the Sunday Times that it is "clearly a legitimate subject" as Bonnie Blue is a "huge phenomenon" who has "transformed the porn industry". He also claimed Blue was sufficiently challenged about her actions in the programme. 'She's got massive influence on the way that millions of young men, sadly, think about sex,' he said. 'She [the documentary maker] did challenge [Blue] a few times but this wasn't a Today programme interview. "This was an observational documentary, and the idea of that approach is to get the audience up as close to the reality of a story, and then let them decide what they think about it. "And I think a huge proportion of the audience would be deeply horrified by what they saw and reach their own conclusions.' We recently revealed how viewers were left outraged at Bonnie after she claimed she was a "community worker" while sleeping with 1,000 men. Bonnie said she sees herself as someone who is teaching men how to have better sex and describes the 1,000-men event as 'giving back' to her fans. In the same breath, she argued that she's 'not a world educator' and can't be held responsible for the culture of sexualisation our children are growing up in. Viewers online were quick to react with many on X branding it "disgusting" while another said that the whole documentary was a "disgrace". Many others took offence to her outrageous comment that her sex acts were a "community service". Angry viewers blasted her for "trying to normalise this behaviour" by influencing "impressionable" teenagers with "sick" views. But Bonnie also hit back at the people who have a problem with her in the documentary. She said critics are 'fat women who stay at home' and admitted she had no qualms about having sex with married men whose wives are 'lazy' in the bedroom. 4 Bonnie talking to her mum in the documentary Credit: Channel 4