Latest news with #TheAccidentalTourist
Daily Record
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Stephen Mulhern broke down in first TV show since death of his dad Christopher
Stephen Mulhern has opened up about his upcoming ITV documentary special The Accidental Tourist Stephen Mulhern has revealed that he cried in his first TV show following the death of his dad, Christopher. The 48-year-old presenter is known for appearing on Britain's Got More Talent, Saturday Night Takeaway, Dancing on Ice, In for a Penny and Catchphrase. Now, viewers will see a more emotional side to Stephen in the upcoming ITV special, The Accidental Tourist, which will air later this year. The one-off documentary sees Ant and Dec send Stephen to somewhere he has never been before, in an effort to help test his resolve and push his boundaries. Stephen arrives in South Korea, where he will encounter epic locations, exotic cultures and cuisines, incredible people and places, and exhilarating activities he would never have chosen for himself. The show was filmed just after Stephen's dad, Christopher, passed away last year. Speaking to the Mirror, Stephen opened up about the raw emotions he felt at the time, saying: "No one's ever seen me cry on the telly. "But it was quite nice to not be behind a format, I've never done that. You're going to see behind the razzle-dazzle, if you like. People have thankfully seen me on TV for nearly 25 years, but they may go, 'Well, what's he like at home? Is he going out with someone?' "I'm at the very centre of this, and it's scary. They film and they film and they film and they just get everything. I think what you're going to see is a lot of emotion. You'll see me totally out of my comfort zone." It reportedly took ITV bosses over three years to persuade Stephen to take part in the show, with the star now revealing that he is "gutted" that his father won't be able to see how his adventures panned out. "My dad had just passed away, so that's the only thing. I'm gutted that he didn't see it," he said." The Accidental Tourist has been compared to the hit Sky travel series, An Idiot Abroad, which saw comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant make their friend Karl Pilkington travel around the globe, while monitoring his progress from the UK. Addressing the comparisons, Stephen explained: "The difference is that I got very emotional because of the timing. "I'm not very worldly. I don't travel a lot. And my body's been used to eating plain food." The star continued: "The food was just horrific, we'd try things like octopus, fish, penis, something they dug out the very bottom of the sea and like a worm that's wriggling, but when you squeeze it squirts water. "When I came back, I couldn't eat for two and a half weeks. I literally couldn't stomach anything - I lost half a stone." The experience was so challenging that Stephen nearly quit halfway through, but managed to continue filming. On whether he'd do it again, Stephen candidly said: "The answer is, I don't know."
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Stephen Mulhern breaks down in tears after year from hell as he films new TV show following beloved father's tragic death and own health battle that saw him rushed to hospital and undergo mystery procedure
Stephen Mulhern has revealed he broke down in tears while filming new travel show The Accidental Tourist, following his year from hell. In 2024 the presenter, 48, was not only left heartbroken following his beloved father Christopher's death, but also battled through his own health woes and was rushed to hospital after collapsing at a Pizza Express. The new one-off ITV show sees Stephen's pals Ant McPartlin, 49, and Declan Donnelly, 49, whisk him away to South Korea to push him out of his comfort zone to eat food he does not like and was filmed shortly after his father's death. Stephen told the Daily Mirror: 'No one's ever seen me cry on the telly, but it was quite nice to not be behind a format, I've never done that. You're going to see behind the razzle-dazzle if you like'. The Catchphrase host loved has pride in himself for starring in the show - which reportedly took him three years to be persuaded to do, but said was 'gutted' that his father was not alive to see how he got on. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. An emotional Stephen admitted: 'My dad had just passed away, so that's the only thing. I'm gutted that he didn't see it.' He continued: 'People have thankfully seen me on TV for nearly 25 years, but they may go, 'Well, what's he like at home? Is he going out with someone? I'm at the very centre of this, and it's scary'. 'They film and they film and they film and they just get everything. I think what you're going to see is a lot of emotion. You'll see me totally out of my comfort zone.' It was announced in November that Stephen's father Christopher had passed away, with a spokesperson for the star telling told: 'Stephen has had an incredibly tough time over the past few weeks. 'His beloved father recently passed away which has hit him hard and has been understandably very stressful'. Stephen was born in east London in 1977 to parents Christopher and Maureen who worked as market traders. The star has credited his success to his parents saying: 'I don't mean to sound soppy, but they worked so incredibly hard to bring up me and my two brothers and sister.' Raised alongside his three siblings, he honed his people skills by working on his father's market stall before he went on to pursue his career as a magician. Shortly after Stephen's father died he was rushed to hospital after he collapsed while eating at a Pizza Express following an unknown medical procedure he had earlier in the day Then shortly after Stephen was rushed to hospital after he collapsed while eating at a Pizza Express following an unknown medical procedure he had earlier in the day. After paramedics helped him, he was put on the phone to his mother to assure her that he was OK. A source told The Sun: 'Stephen has been going through an incredibly tough time of late. He is grieving the loss of his dad to whom he was so, so close. 'He's also been battling several well-documented health problems, and on Wednesday morning had a procedure requiring a local anaesthetic. 'He took himself off for a quiet, solo dinner that evening, had a few drinks and just reacted incredibly badly. He's only human, and his dad's death has hit him hard.' Stephen first sparked concern after he pulled out of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway back in April 2024 after he was struck down with illness. He reportedly told producers on the Saturday morning of filming that he was not up for doing the show that evening as he was feeling under the weather. While he was absent from the show, the nature of his illness wasn't revealed but a source close to Stephen told The Sun on Sunday: 'Stephen was due to be on a small section of the show, but sadly he was feeling a bit too poorly to perform. 'When he realised he would be too under the weather to show up he called first thing on Saturday morning to let the team know. 'They were able to rejig the format and make it work without him.' Stephen has also had a stressful time regarding one of his properties after his tenants claimed they had been living with damp and mould for years. The presenter was forced to apologise to the tenants living in a house owned by his £4million firm after they said they felt 'bitter and alienated' after having their complaints ignored for two to three years. Stephen suffered another blow after his beloved ITV show In For A Penny was axed, according to The Mirror, a shock decision meant his own fan-favourite Saturday night gameshow has been shelved after six series - but, bosses haven't ruled out a potential return and suggested it may have just been temporarily paused. An ITV source told MailOnline: 'Whilst Stephen is busy filming other projects over the summer, In For A Penny continues to be a much loved format for ITV. 'So don't put your pennies away just yet as the team could be popping up in your local town, to challenge even more members of the public to take part in their unique and madcap games in the future!'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stephen Mulhern's heartbreaking reason for crying for the first time on TV in The Accidental Tourist
Stephen Mulhern cried in his first TV show following the death of his dad Christopher. Viewers will see a more emotional side to the 48-year-old presenter in the upcoming ITV1 and ITVX travelogue one-off show, 'The Accidental Tourist', which was filmed just after Christopher passed away last year. The special, which will air at some point in 2025, sees Stephen's 'Saturday Night Takeaway' friends, Ant McPartlin, 49, and Declan Donnelly, 49, whisk him away to South Korea to discover the country and push himself out of his comfort zone to eat food he does not like with strangers. Stephen told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "No one's ever seen me cry on the telly. "But it was quite nice to not be behind a format, I've never done that. You're going to see behind the razzle-dazzle if you like. People have thankfully seen me on TV for nearly 25 years, but they may go, 'Well, what's he like at home? Is he going out with someone?' "I'm at the very centre of this, and it's scary. "They film and they film and they film and they just get everything. I think what you're going to see is a lot of emotion. You'll see me totally out of my comfort zone.' The 'Catchphrase' host loved has pride in himself for starring in 'The Accidental Tourist' - which reportedly took Stephen three years to be persuaded to do - but he is "gutted" that his father was not alive to see how he got on in the Asian country. An emotional Stephen admitted: "My dad had just passed away, so that's the only thing. I'm gutted that he didn't see it." The 'You Bet!' presenter was hesitant to do the series, which has been compared to the hit Sky travelogue programme, 'An Idiot Abroad', that saw comedians Ricky Gervais, 63, and Stephen Merchant, 50, make their actor friend Karl Pilkington, 52, trot around the globe doing silly things. And because Stephen is "not very worldly" - due to only having holidays in Florida, USA - and his body is only "used to eating plain foods", Ant and Dec thought he would be the perfect person for the show. Stephen said: "The difference is that I got very emotional because of the timing. "I'm not very worldly. I don't travel a lot. And my body's been used to eating plain food." The 'In for a Penny' host said the food he ate in South Korea was "horrific" and when Stephen returned home, he "couldn't eat" for a fortnight - resulting in him shedding "half a stone". He added: "The food was just horrific, we'd try things like octopus, fish penis, something they dug out the very bottom of the sea and like a worm that's wriggling, but when you squeeze it squirts water. "When I came back I couldn't eat for two and a half weeks. I literally couldn't stomach anything - I lost half a stone."
Daily Mirror
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Stephen Mulhern: 'I hadn't cried on TV before Ant and Dec sent me to Korea.'
Gameshow host on The Accidental Tourist getting emotional, his love for Celebrity Catchphrase and how Holly Willoughby told him she was quitting You Bet! Stephen Mulhern says viewers will see a very different side to him in The Accidental Tourist, in which pals Ant and Dec send him on a journey of discovery to Korea. The much-loved gameshow host, whose ITV shows include Celebrity Catchphrase, Deal or No Deal and You Bet!, says he's very happy to always hide behind his presenter alter ago. But in the one-off special later this year, the audience will watch the real Stephen properly struggle as he pushes his boundaries by travelling to an unfamiliar country to eat food he doesn't like with people he doesn't know. At the time of filming last year, he had just lost his father, Christopher, and his attempts to become more intrepid left Stephen, 48, feeling incredibly emotional at times. 'No one's ever seen me cry on the telly,' he muses now, admitting that it took nearly three years for him to be persuaded. 'But it was quite nice to not be behind a format, I've never done that. You're going to see behind the razzle-dazzle, if you like. People have thankfully seen me on TV for nearly 25 years, but they may go, 'Well, what's he like at home? Is he going out with someone?' I'm at the very centre of this and it's scary. 'They film and they film and they film and they just get everything. I think what you're going to see is a lot of emotion. You'll see me totally out of my comfort zone.' For the programme, designed to help him unleash his inner traveller, Stephen is sent to Asia, a continent he's never visited because he only ever holidays in Florida. 'I like the food and the theme parks,' he laughs. 'Only Ant and Dec would choose Korea. Why couldn't it have been Tokyo? It looks like New York." He says the idea to send him out into the world came about because he was so unadventurous and the Geordie pair thought it would be funny to see him learn new things. Already, the show has been compared to An Idiot Abroad, in which Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant sent their pal Karl Pilkington off on daft adventures. 'The difference is that I got very emotional because of the timing,' he sighs. 'I'm not very worldly. I don't travel a lot. And my body's been used to eating plain food.' His reluctance to broaden his horizons has led to teasing from celebrity pals including Emma Willi s and Holly Willoughby. 'They would call me 50 Shades of Beige because of the food I eat, which is embarrassing really,' he laughs. But when he got back to the UK after filming ended, he found that the exotic diet had played havoc with his insides. 'The food was just horrific, we'd try things like octopus, fish penis, something they dug out the very bottom of the sea and like a worm that's wriggling, but when you squeeze it squirts water,' he shudders. 'When I came back I couldn't eat for two and a half weeks. I literally couldn't stomach anything - I lost half a stone.' He nearly quit along the way but managed to stick it out and, once home, his family asked if he'd be prepared to do it again. 'The answer is, I don't know,' he says now, looking faintly terrified at the prospect. Having got over the experience, he does feel proud of himself, but it's tinged with regret. 'My dad had just passed away,' he says sadly. 'So that's the only thing. I'm gutted that he didn't see it.' Fully recovered from the ordeal, Stephen is now on screen with the final two episodes of Celebrity Catchphrase with guests including Mel Blatt, Michelle Visage and Jeremy Vine yet to come. He's also making a second run of You Bet! - this time without co-host Holly Willoughby, who pulled out ahead of filming. Stephen says Holly, with whom he also hosted Dancing on Ice until it was axed after the most recent series, told him in person that she didn't want to continue with the fun challenge show. 'I'm gutted she's not doing it, but I've had time to think about it,' he reasons. 'Bruce Forsyth was the first person to do You Bet!, and he did it on his own. Matthew Kelly made it the best show on the telly. So maybe it's happened for the right reasons. We've filmed one episode already and it felt very comfortable and it felt good. I think maybe it is just a one presenter show.' It's been reported that her Netflix series Celebrity Bear Hunt has been dropped after one run, and he says it'll be 'interesting" to see what she does next. 'I don't know what happened. She just said, 'Look, sorry, I can't do it.' She told me face to face. She said, 'Look, I'm gutted, but it's all over.' For himself, he has a hard time choosing between Catchphrase and Deal or No Deal when it comes to a favourite. On the one hand he'd choose the former, because he's hosted it for so long - and would love to see a return for the original version featuring everyday people. But he also has a lot of love for the newer show because it was his market trader dad's favourite and he was filming it while visiting him in hospital towards the end. 'We were doing three a day and he would be asking me, 'What were the winnings today?' So it's very, very dear to my heart simply because of that.' As something of a gameshow expert, Stephen believes that simplicity is the key to success. 'If you can't sum up the show in a sentence, it will never work,' he insists. 'Catchphrase, say what you see. Play Your Cards Right, high or lower? You Bet, will they or won't they? Deal Or No Deal, pick the right box. The Price Is Right, guess the prize,' he reels off. The road to failure, he believes, lies with having to think too hard as you play. "Catchphrase is a prime example of that - anyone can play it,' he says. 'As I say to the contestants, if you have a good time, I promise you'll do all right.' With In For a Penny currently being rested, he's decided to have a go at creating his own family entertainment show entirely from scratch. 'I'm going to film a 20-minute pilot, I'm just going to invest my own money and then pitch it and see if it goes well,' he says. Inspired by the likes of Beadle's About and Surprise, Surprise, it will involve his two favourite things - magic and practical jokes. 'It's very heartwarming as well,' he explains. 'I just think it would be nice to do a show where I get to do a bit of magic and a bit of wind up, which I love doing,' he says. 'I think that's missing from our screens at the moment.' - Celebrity Catchphrase, ITV/ITVX/STV, Sunday, 6.55pm
New York Times
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Geena Davis Can't Count How Many Times She's Reread Zola
In an email interview, she talked about the inspiration behind 'The Girl Who Was Too Big for the Page,' and how 'The Accidental Tourist' changed her life. SCOTT HELLER What's the last great book you read? 'Horse,' by Geraldine Brooks, weaves the art world, the horse racing world and what it means to be human into a thrilling tapestry. What book have you recommended the most over the years? 'Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women,' by Susan Faludi. As someone who's focused on creating equitable representation onscreen for women and girls, this book had a strong impact on me. Which genres do you especially enjoy reading? Memoirs and biographies. I find stories about other people's real-life experiences and challenges so engrossing. They teach me a lot and broaden my perspective and understanding of the world. One recent favorite was 'Educated,' by Tara Westover. The story — and Tara's resilience — broke my heart. What kind of reader were you as a child? I read everything I could get my hands on, often under the covers with a flashlight. I used novels as a way to learn, to escape and to travel without leaving my little town in Massachusetts. I particularly loved 'The Cricket in Times Square,' by George Selden. The idea of a cricket giving concerts in New York City enchanted me. Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Your favorite antihero or villain? My favorite book of all time is 'L'Assommoir,' by Émile Zola, and I adore Gervaise Macquart. She's such a strong character, and every time I read the book, I want her life to be different — I want her to have all the opportunities she's denied as a member of the Parisian underclass. And as far as antiheroes, while I wouldn't say her husband is my favorite antihero, I would say that he's the perfect foil for Gervaise's dreams. Zola is such a stunning writer. I can't tell you how many times I've read and reread his work. Do you have a favorite memoir by an actor? I don't, but I do have a favorite biography — 'Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor,' by Simon Callow. Charles Laughton is my absolute favorite actor. He was one of the true greats, and being able to gain insight into his life through this book meant a lot to me. What was the specific motivation to try your hand at a children's book? I've always loved drawing and writing, so it's been in my mind for a long time. Then, suddenly, the idea of a character knowing that they live in a book came to me. As a child, I always felt too tall, like I was taking up more than my share of space, and I tried to shrink myself to fit into the amount of space I imagined I should occupy. In writing 'The Girl Who Was Too Big for the Page,' I wanted to reach out to kids who feel like I did back then — like they don't fit in — and reassure them that there is room for them in the world. I want them to realize that they should take up as much space as they need. Often new authors work with illustrators. Was it a must that you did the art for this book, too? I've always drawn and painted, and I saw my characters so clearly in my mind's eye that it seemed natural that I would draw them. And luckily for me, my publisher loved what I created. What's the best book you've ever received as a gift? When Hugh Laurie and I played Stuart Little's parents in the movie 'Stuart Little,' Hugh decided to give me a copy of his hilarious book, 'The Gun Seller.' But since he knew I was once a foreign-exchange student in Sweden, Hugh gave me a Swedish copy! (The book was called 'Skottpengar' there.) The gift truly delighted me. I love Hugh's writing in any language. Of all the characters you've played across different media, which role felt to you the richest — the most novelistic? I've actually been in five movies based on books, but Muriel Pritchett from 'The Accidental Tourist' was definitely the most novelistic. Muriel, who first appeared in the beautiful book by Anne Tyler, is complicated and unique and felt so three-dimensional on the page. I remember reading this book aloud to Jeff Goldblum while we were shooting 'The Fly' together and he was getting his extensive makeup done. As I read, I started hating whoever was going to get to play the part of Muriel in the movie version — which it was clear there would be. But then it was me! And it completely changed my life.
