Stars trekking
PICK DAY
ABOUT Red Nose celebrities on top of Kilimanjaro
KILIMANJARO: THE BIGGER RED NOSE CLIMB
BBC1, 9pm HUFFING and puffing, nine famous faces are already out of breath as they begin their gruelling journey to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.
At more than 19,000ft, it’s Africa’s highest mountain but the intrepid gang of celebs are bravely taking it on to raise money and awareness for Red Nose Day.
Yet it’s going to be arduous, with TROUBLE Rosie and Barnaby BOUNTY HUNTERS
Sky One, 10pm JACK Whitehall’s usual character of bumbling posh Brit serves up a nice counterpart to no-nonsense bounty hunter in this chalk and cheese comedy.
Series two picks up exactly where the last one left off, with the pair stuck in the desert with an angry drug lord in their car boot.
Barnaby (Whitehall) and Nina (Rosie Perez) have also been left with $2million worth of cocaine, making it ever so slightly more eight days of trekking at extreme altitude. Some of them have never even slept in a tent before, let alone coped without running water or electricity.
The Kilimanajaro Nine, as they are nicknamed in this documentary – as if wanted for criminal activity – are Strictly Come Dancing’s Shirley Ballas, former MP Ed Balls, broadcaster Anita Rani, Love Island’s Dani Dyer, Pointless host Alexander Armstrong, BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker, BBC NFL pundit Osi Umenyiora difficult to buy things. “Oh, I always overpay on holidays,” moans Barnaby, who has accidentally given a motel owner $10,000 worth of drugs to pay for a room.
In more pressing news, Barnaby’s sister Leah is still locked up in a Mexican prison and the cartel are hot on their heels as they desperately try to flee Mexico. They realise their only way out is on Barnaby’s temporary passport with Nina posing as his wife. Cue one awkward marriage. and Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall and LeighAnne Pinnock.
“I think it’s going to be a lot harder than I thought. I’ve never even camped in my life,” says Dani.
Before they begin the 55-mile trek, some of the team who climbed Kilimanjaro for the charity 10 years ago pass on a special message – but it’s not that encouraging.
“I can’t stress how horrible the climb is. It’s vile,” says radio DJ Chris Moyles.
There are plenty of highs and lows, from an amazing welcome by locals at base camp to the inexperienced climbers struggling with extreme temperatures and debilitating altitude sickness. Watch out also for some emotional segments – among them Shirley, who lost her brother to suicide, as she visits a project which aims to reduce male suicide rates.