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Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Move over, Traitors, the BBC has found its next big reality show: Destination X
If you were bundled into the back of a bus that had the windows blacked out and you were driven across Europe, with no means of communicating with the outside world, would you be able to figure out where you were? Even if you were given obscure clues along the way, and part of a group of 10 trying to come up with the right answer, it would be difficult, to say the least. That is the premise of Destination X, the BBC's new glossy reality TV format. The programme is like a cross between Race Across the World, The Traitors, Hunted and Big Brother. Much of its action takes place on the specially-kitted out coach, ferrying the contestants across the continent. At the end of every episode, each player has two minutes to place an X on the map to mark where they think they are. The player whose guess is furthest away is eliminated; to keep the confusion levels high, the remaining players are not told whose was closest. Rob Brydon, in his reality TV hosting debut, hams it up and chews the scenery throughout. There is more than a hint of Claudia Winkleman's performance in The Traitors in how Brydon does it, from the exaggerated campness to his slightly outré fashion choices – such as his choice of cravats and double-breasted blazers. 'I did look to Claudia,' he says. 'I love the lightness of touch there, I love the way she's a conduit into the show. I didn't want to get in the way of the programme, so I was very aware of that. I wanted to just be a bridge between the viewer and the contestants, because they are the stars. She gets the balance just right: mischievous at times, but always wanting them to have a great experience and to help them along.' To get a taste of the experience, after a screening of the first episode at a cinema in Hoxton, east London, on one of the hottest days of the year a small group of journalists was invited to board the Destination X bus to play a truncated version of the game. As an added bonus, we got to keep quizzing Brydon and Dan Adamson, the show's executive producer, about the series. The coach has been decked out with luxurious green velvet chairs and golden lights hanging on the walls. It feels a little like the Orient Express, or a posh private members' club. It is just a shame that the air conditioning does not seem to be working, and even a consummate professional like Brydon is struggling with the heat. 'Bloody hell, it's hot isn't it?' he asks before he decides to take off his blue suit jacket. 'Is it worth mentioning to the driver that the air conditioning is ineffectual? We are all sitting here like lobsters in a pot. Surely they must be able to make it work?' It only splutters to life in fits and starts over the course of the next hour. As the bus drives off, the windows become frosted and we immediately become deprived of our sense of direction. I am pretty sure that we headed south to start with, but after a few turns it is almost impossible to know where we are. Brydon, 60, says that he would like Destination X to be the kind of programme bringing generations to sit on the sofa together. 'I love that it's for the family,' he continues. 'We would watch Traitors in that way. You could persuade your teenage sons to spend time in your company, which is no mean feat. I'm proud of Would I Lie to You? being something you can watch with your family. I hope this becomes appointment viewing too. If you're anything like me as a parent, you are desperate for the stuff that can persuade them to spend time with you.' The BBC has placed a big bet on Destination X and clearly thinks that the show is going to be its next reality big hit. Like The Traitors, it is a foreign import (Destination X was originally a Belgian format, while the same producers have also made an American version). No expense has been spared: quite apart from the £100,000 winner-takes-all prize, it was filmed across 32 days by a crew of 190 people who travelled more than 11,000km across Europe. As well as the decadent bus we see through most of the episode, there was a second coach following behind that was kitted out with beds for the contestants to sleep in. 'We had the opportunity to turn Europe into a board game. We immediately thought the way we bring scale to the challenges is we just get incredible locations,' says Adamson. 'We take over whole castles, we run a train on a public network, we take over cable car systems.' Not that the combination of a large investment and huge ambition is any guarantee of success. 'You never know with any show – any theatre show, TV show, film, live show – how it's going to go,' says Brydon. 'You'd have to be detached from reality to not have your fingers crossed and hope that people respond to it.' Taking 10 people across Europe in a confined space had some, erm, practical difficulties. 'We set ourselves a rule which gave ourselves one problem: no number twos on the bus,' says Adamson. 'It's about humanity, it's about being kind to each other. We had to create a system.' The system was this: a car pulled a trailer with portable lavatories on the back and, when nature called, the convoy had to find a place to pull over. The contestants getting off the bus had to put on blackout goggles and be chaperoned and walked over, before repeating the process in reverse after they had finished. The contestants themselves were selected for their potential to be good at the game. Among them are Darren (a London taxi driver who took years learning The Knowledge and may be good at instinctively knowing where he is), crime writer Deborah (no stranger to piecing clues together) and Nick (an endurance athlete who has run a marathon in every country on earth and has seen much more of the world than most). For all their abilities at sussing out which clues are helpful, they had bizarre strategies to try and help themselves. One tried to use the sun's arc to figure out in which direction they had travelled, while another counted the seconds that the bus drove in a tunnel to try and ascertain how big the mountain under which they were driving was. The helpfulness of that information is dubious. 'If I got out and saw the sun,' says Brydon, 'that would tell me it's daytime.' Adamson adds: 'It's amazing, when you take someone's senses away, how much they don't know where they are.' Like the show's participants, we have to decide which clues are helpful and which ones are red herrings designed to throw us off the scent; but unlike the contestants, we are all feckless journalists. We are told that our destination is somewhere we all know and will recognise, and that there have been clues all around us since we boarded the bus. 'Film buffs will figure it out,' offers one producer. Seeing how puzzled we are, Brydon laughs and eats sweets picked up from the cinema. He slips into an impression of David Frost: 'The clues are there. As David Frost used to say, the clues are there.' The bus windows defrost as we drive south over London Bridge; a few minutes later we are going back north over Tower Bridge. The frosted windows darken: are we going through a tunnel, or just driving down a road heavily lined with trees? We hear the chimes of Big Ben. Is that a clue? Westminster Bridge was, of course, the iconic setting for the start of 28 Days Later. After what was actually an hour, but through a combination of the heat and sensory deprivation, felt like much more than that, we come to a stop and Brydon continues to play the role of avuncular host. 'I'm so sorry about the temperature. You shouldn't have had to suffer like that,' he says as he points at the sweat stains on his baby blue shirt. 'But look: I suffered too.' As the Gavin & Stacey star departs, the eight of us remaining players are asked to do what the real contestants do and place an X on a map to guess where we are. It is surprisingly stressful, especially as I had not decided what I would do before I sat down in the Big Brother diary room-style area at the back of the bus. Then comes my a-ha moment. I place my X and wait for the result. I was not the one with the worst guess, which in the show would mean I lived to fight another day. But as this is a one-time thing, we get told who was closest, and I am amazed to discover that I have won. The windows of the bus defrosted for the final time and we had our answer. We were back where we had started, at the cinema.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Emily Atack left stumped by three tricky Celebrity Catchphrase riddles in nightmare finale – but do you know any?
EMILY Atack was left stumped by three tricky Celebrity Catchphrase riddles in a nightmare finale - but do you know any? The Rivals actress competed on the hit ITV show alongside Brenda Edwards and Martin Kemp. 4 4 Emily - who recently announced her engagement - stormed through the rounds and made it to the Super Catchphrase finale. However, the wheels quickly fell off for the actress as she struggled to get an answer to secure £2,500. The first catchphrase saw a man chop into a cauliflower in his kitchen, revealing cheese inside. After a couple of unsuccessful guesses, Emily moved on to another, which featured two men shaking hands over a loaf of bread. They then smashed it with mallets, but Emily didn't have a clue and cried: "What? These are hard!" She then moaned "Oh no!" before deciding to move on to another, but the situation did not improve. As the clock ticked down, she was shown a box on a street which opened to show letters inside. She passed, and went for a fourth go at securing £2,500, which the catchphrase showing a couple trying to check into a hotel, with a fully booked sign next to the front desk. But the man then pulled a cord and they were able to go in, with Emily correctly guessing: "Pull some strings." However, she only had five seconds left and was unable to start on the catchphrase that could have landed her charity £5,000. Celebrity Catchphrase stumps Derry Girls legend with the final image - but could you have got it? As the time ran out, host Stephen Mulhern put his hands to his face while Emily said again that it was "so hard" and put her hand to her forehead. Stephen then revealed the answers to the three catchphrases she had missed. The first catchphrase she passed on was 'cauliflower cheese', while the second was 'breaking bread' relating to when people meet each other. The third one ended up being 'letter box', prompting Emily to say "Oh my God!" and put her hand to her mouth. It wasn't all bad for Emily though, as Stephen added her £2,500 to the money she had won earlier in the show, meaning she was taking a total of £7,200 to her chosen charity. 4
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
I won The Chase - here's why ITV bosses warn us not to share any of our prize money with eliminated players
A former The Chase contestant has revealed why ITV bosses warn the players to not share any of their prize money with the eliminated players. Steven Sneade, 69, from Liverpool, took part in the programme back in 2017 and went up against Paul Sinha AKA The Sinnerman. He managed to make it to the final round and won a huge amount of money, but there was one person on his team who walked away with nothing. OLBG, Steven said: 'If you win you have to sign another contract as you're accepting money from them. 'They told us not to give money to the contestants who didn't win money just because you feel sorry for them. 'They can't stop you, but I think they just don't want you to have that in mind. 'They said it could take three months, but I had it in a week.' But that wasn't the only rule that they were told that they had to follow. Steven had previously taken part in Tipping Point, which meant that he had to wait a bit before he could star on The Chase. He added: 'After about two years I got a call and the production person they were thinking about casting me, but they asked if I had been on any other shows. 'I had been on Tipping Point, so they said they would be back in touch next year. 'They don't want people being on those two programmes so close together - apparently they get a lot of backlash for having the same people on different shows.' The Chase hit our screens back in 2009. The show has gone on to air 2,550 episodes across 18 successful regular series. It follows a group of contestants try and beat one of the Chasers, which include Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Jenny Ryan, Darragh Ennis and Paul. Earlier this month another contestant opened up about their time on the show as they revealed the truth about Bradley 'stitching up' ITV contestants by slowing down the questions. One fan asked on Reddit: 'Why is Bradley allowed to read the questions so much more quickly for the chaser? It seems so unfair. It gives the chaser a big advantage.' And a former player on the quiz show replied to the comment reassuring them that 'everything is fair'. They said: 'There's a whole host of questions that, if you're an experienced quizzer, you can guess before the question is completed. 'That is the main advantage that Chasers have. 'I've been on the show. They are very diligent on fairness. 'They even have an independent adjudicator on set to watch that everything is fair.' They added: 'We had to reshoot part of our final chase after the adjudicator said an answer that Brad said was wrong, should have been accepted. 'We didn't challenge it, the adjudicator did. 'It was very clear to us that they wanted to be clear in how they did everything.' And another took to the forum to give their views on what happens on the show. They added: 'This doesn't happen. One of the biggest myths about the show. 'There are independent adjudicators to ensure the game is played as fairly as possible, otherwise they'd get in incredibly hot water with the regulator.'
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Tipping Point contestant ripped to shreds for mortifying blunder after bragging about A-level in history - as fans jeer 'you must have skipped a few lessons!'
A Tipping Point contestant was ripped to shreds for a mortifying blunder after bragging about her A-level in history - but fans jeered 'you must have skipped a few lessons!' In a previous episode of the ITV show, hosted by Ben Shephard, a primary school teacher called Hanifa tried her best to get her hands on some cash. During the game she made a huge mistake while answering one of the questions. Presenter Ben asked her: 'At the Malta Summit in 1989, which US declared the end of the Cold War?' Hanifa replied: 'I should know this as I did A Level history… I think I am going to play.' 'Okay, you're going to play - great!' Ben replied. In a previous episode of the ITV show, hosted by Ben Shephard (pictured), a primary school teacher called Hanifa tried her best to get her hands on some cash. She confessed: 'I'm debating between two. J.F Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln... 'I am going to go J.F Kennedy.' Ben asked: 'J.F Kennedy, yep?' He then wanted to know what Hanifa's competition would have answered. Luckily he had no idea and said: 'Not sure.' 'Didn't have to answer it, because Hanfia, she's all over this,' Ben said. 'Let's see if you got the right one. Is it J.F Kennedy?...' The light then went red, indicating that she got the incorrect answer. Ben explained: 'It was George H W Bush was the president in 1989. Kennedy was president in the 60s, Abraham Lincoln was the 1860s, so the century before...' Hanifa confessed: 'I was way off!' George H.W Bush was president in the US between 1989 and 1993, while George W. Bush was president between 2001 and 2009. John F. Kennedy was president between 1961 and 1963. Abraham Lincoln was in charge between 1961 and 1965. The moment has resurfaced on Instagram, with one viewer sharing their shock as they said: 'Absolutely, and I can't emphasise this enough, f***ing extraordinary.' 'Hint: 1989 (who was the US president at the time?)' 'tbf she said she DID A level history, she didn't say she PASSED A level history.' 'Oh dear....' 'I have no more words ffs.' Fans of the quiz show are able to watch on ITV's new channel ITV Quiz. The channel has launched a first-of-its-kind new channel fronted by Jeremy Clarkson, Stephen Mulhern and Graham Norton. Quiz show viewers will be able to enjoy a number of their favourite programmes for a whopping 16 hours. The likes of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Wheel of Fortune, Tenable, Lingo, Tipping Point and Deal or No Deal will air between 9am and 1am on the new channel. The official press release states: 'ITV Quiz promises the very best in game show entertainment from the iconic classics to recent hits and with an array of star-studded quizmasters at helm including Graham Norton, Stephen Mulhern, Warwick Davies, Mel Giedroyc, Jeremy Clarkson and more. 'Whether it's trivia games, picture games, parlour games, general knowledge or simply luck and chance, ITV Quiz has something for everyone from the devoted trivia buff to the casual quizzer.' Viewers will be able to watch ITV Quiz through a number of television services. It will air on channel 28 on Freeview, 22 on Freely, 28 on YouView, 119 on Freesat, 131 on Sky Q, 125 on Sky Glass, and 119 on Virgin 119. ITV Quiz is also available to stream on ITVX.
Daily Mail
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Nadine Coyle narrowly misses out on bagging £50k jackpot on Celebrity Catchphrase for late Girls Aloud bandmate Sarah Harding's charity - but would you have got the answer?
Nadine Coyle narrowly missed out on an eye-watering £50,000 on Celebrity Catchphrase, but would you have managed to get it? The Girls Aloud singer, 40, appeared on the latest episode of the star-studded ITV game show. She joined Stephen Mulhern and went up against presenter Rick Edwards and EastEnders actor Jake Wood. Nadine was on course to scoop the jackpot prize as she sailed through the rounds, making it all the way to the Super Catchphrase. Viewers watched as the Northern Irish singer even doubled the money Rick and Jake had amassed during the game by successfully getting the number 11 catchphrase. However, her luck appeared to be running out as she stumbled on the final catchphrase behind number 15. Host Stephen, 48, showed her a line of cars on a stretch of road that was running on an athletics track before Mr Chips took over. Nadine then watched as the character crossed the line and won while an arrow pointed at him. She tried her best to guess what the phrase was, offering multiple answers but unfortunately ran out of him. While she didn't scoop the jackpot, she still left the studio with a respectable £30,000 for The Sara Harding Breast Cancer Appeal with the Christie Charity. Did you guess the correct answer? Stephen told Nadine how Mr Chips was 'beating the traffic' while congratulating her on walking away with five figures. Sarah tragically died from breast cancer at just 39 years old in 2021. Nadine previously spoke about losing her band made, saying she 'lives life to the fullest' and tries to have as much fun as she can. She told The Mirror: 'I just try to enjoy it, because Sarah really enjoyed life. She made the most of so many things. That's really important. 'You can worry about so much stuff that just becomes irrelevant. Hold the people close that you love and spend time having fun, as much as you can.' Sarah found fame in 2002 when she won a place on Popstars: The Rivals with the band and took the UK by storm soon after. She 'slipped away peacefully' in September 2021 after 'fighting so strongly from her diagnosis until her last day', her mum Marie wrote on Instagram at the time.
