Inside Rob Brydon's huge new Traitors-style travel reality show as Gavin and Stacey star reveals major struggle
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WHEN Rob Brydon reached his 60th birthday with two of TV's biggest hits under his belt, he could have easily put his feet up.
Instead, the star of Would I Lie To You? and Gavin & Stacey hit the road and is taking a risk by fronting the BBC's new challenge show, Destination X.
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Rob Brydon is set to present the BBC's new travel challenge show, Destination X
Credit: BBC
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Brydon says he is excited about the challenge and enjoys how varied his career has become
Credit: PA
And he relishes the challenge — as it might give him the chance to show he's not just Stacey's Uncle Bryn.
Rob, who turned 60 in May, said: 'People always ask me about Gavin & Stacey.
Some people know me for Would I Lie To You? But I've never done anything like this.
'Having something new and exciting and different is just a delight. I'm taking a chance on something I haven't done before.'
After 18 years as Uncle Bryn and 16 years hosting the BBC quiz show, it's no surprise Rob was keen to get his teeth into something new.
His latest project Destination X is a promising cross between The Traitors and Race Across The World, which each command six million viewers.
But there was one hitch. Rob is so used to being seated on his quiz show and playing a character on Gavin & Stacey that he had forgotten how he walks as himself.
Recalling walking on to the set of Destination X, he said: 'My first scene, I am walking into an airport, and I'm thinking, 'Right, OK, how am I going to be?'
'Because I've got a horrible walk. I walk like an ape. I walk side to side. So I'm thinking, 'Try not to walk like an idiot'.
'It even occurred to me that I won't be sat behind a desk. I had to think, 'How am I going to hold myself?''
Gavin and Stacey's Rob Brydon admits he was 'moved to tears' after getting first glimpse at script for final ever episode
But Rob swiftly found his feet on the thrilling new show, which travels the length and breadth of Europe.
Destination X introduces a group of travellers to each other at an airport before they are blindfolded and taken on a disorientating helicopter ride.
They then board a blacked-out bus that travels to a few hotspots where the travellers take on challenges to try to win clues.
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Brydon says he had to try and figure out his presenting identity in order to lead the new show
Credit:
At the end of each episode they are asked one simple question: Where in the world are we?
The straightforward premise has helped the show become a huge hit in the US and Belgium.
Rob is in charge of the jaunt and has revelled in the role.
He said: 'I genuinely love the variety of my career. I like it all.
"It's possible some people who act wouldn't be comfortable presenting.
'You would be surprised how many actors wouldn't like it if you told them that they were go- ing to do something with no script.
'But I love all those things.
'Ultimately, having a live audience is my favourite.
'Sometimes with Destination X I would say a funny line and they would laugh and that's an audience.
'I wanted to have the interaction with the players.
'That's something I looked forward to.'
Claudia has a lightness of touch.
I think she judges it just right. You feel like you're with a really good friend who is allowing you into this world
It is perhaps unsurprising that given the similarities of the show to BBC mega-hit Traitors, Rob looked to Claudia Winkleman when he was considering whether to take the job.
She has made a huge success of the murder mystery game — and Destination X contains the same elements of strategy and manipulation.
Rob said: 'I watched the Belgian version and I thought, with some tweaks, I could see myself in that role. I was intrigued.
'Claudia has a lightness of touch. I think she judges it just right. She doesn't force herself to the front.
"She is there as a conduit, as a bridge with the viewer and you feel like you're with a really good friend who is allowing you into this world.
"I wanted to be a pleasant way to bring people into the show with a nice comment here and there.
'The Traitors was one of the big reasons I wanted to do Destination X. I could see similarities.'
Just like the cast at the heart of The Traitors and Race Across The World, normal folk are the stars.
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Brydon says he took inspiration from Claudia Winkleman presenting The Traitors
Credit: BBC
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Comic Brydon says he hopes the new show will be a big hit with family viewers
Credit: BBC
'Strong characters'
Guessing along with the contestants as they gather clues — and red herrings — is irresistible.
Rob, who begins the show in a suave pilot's uniform, clearly took to one of the contestants, wisecracking London cabbie Darren.
He said: 'Darren mentions his wife — you hear quite a bit about her.
"Bless him, he gets quite choked up when he talks about her. He was really missing her. It was genuine. It wasn't forced.
Rob added: 'They are all very strong characters. They developed as they went along, the relationships.
'You enjoy seeing people come out of their shell and then the distrust starts. They start saying, 'We're a team'. But that can't last.'
At the end of each episode, the players lock themselves in the bus's map room where they have to plant an X on a map to log their guess.
In the first episode alone, the hunches vary wildly despite them all being fed the same information. The person whose guess is furthest from the true destination is booted off the bus and sent home.
Rob said: 'Throughout the series they'll think they're somewhere and then they'll talk themselves out of it.
'The map room bits were so enjoyable.
'We were round the monitors watching them make the decisions.
Certain shows have become valuable to people
of a certain age who want their family together. That's what was special about the Gavin & Stacey
Xmas special
"Doubt would enter their mind. Sometimes it was a tiny amount.
'Someone will have gone out because they were 3km out!'
Rob is aware he is stepping out of his comfort zone and might end up with his first flop.
But he's hopeful the pure heart of the show will win through and land fans among families.
He said: 'You never know with any TV show, with any theatre show, film, how it's going to do.
'You'd have to be detached from reality to now have your fingers crossed and hope that people respond to it.
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Brydon says he had to learn how to be himself after playing a character on Gavin and Stacey
Credit: PA
'For the family'
'You have to have word of mouth. If you hear enough, you might go, 'I'll give it a try'.
'What I love about this show is that it's for the family. I love shows that you can sit and watch, like we watch The Traitors as a family.
'It's the same with Race Across The World. We think, 'Yeah, let's all watch it together'. That's why I'm proud of Would I Lie To You?
'The humour is sharp and clever but you can watch it with your family.
'I hope Destination X becomes appointment viewing for a family and everyone will be chipping in and arguing about it.'
Rob, who is a dad of five, added: 'If you're anything like me as a parent, you're desperate for the stuff that can get the kids to watch something with you.
'Those shows have become very valuable to people of a certain age who want their family together.
'The kids get older and everybody is told, 'Oh, they're not going to want to be with you'.
'You think, 'We'll be different'. But sure enough, that happens.
'That's what was special about the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special.
"Getting people to all sit down and watch the same show is so hard to do.'
It is clear the programme has all the ingredients to become Rob's third hit — and he is already hopeful of a second series or perhaps a celebrity spin-off.
But he has one condition for BBC bosses.
Rob added with a laugh: 'I've said I'll only do it if we go to Wales.'
Barry Island, presumably?
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