Noel’s road rage at BBC over TV rally show fakery
Competitors in endurance race ‘were put up in luxury hotels’
A TV reality show pitting celebrities against each other in a 2,500-mile rally across jungles and mountains was unlikely to pass without a hitch. But Noel Edmonds, who was a contestant, said the production was so farcical it should not even be screened.
The 69-year-old TV host said that – far from being an ‘epic’ test of endurance – it featured five-star hotels, air-conditioned minibuses and two celebrities who could not even drive.
Edmonds, who is an amateur rally driver, paired up with his wife Liz for Eight Go Rallying: The Road To Saigon, which starts on BBC2 this Sunday.
It promised to have celebrities competing ‘against each other and 30 other vintage car enthusiasts’ in a world-class endurance rally across Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. But Edmonds, who hosts Deal or No Deal on Channel 4, said the show was fictitious and he had had ‘more adventure driving down to Tesco’.
He told the Sunday Times he stormed out of the wrap party, fearing the karaoke bar it was being held in was a brothel.
Edmonds said the 12-day trip quickly hit trouble when actor Martin Kemp rolled his Mini and rapper Tinchy Stryder wrecked the clutch and gearbox of his vehicle. He claims the BBC then decided it was too dangerous for inexperienced drivers and halted the competitive side of the race.
Edmonds said: ‘The producers contrived overtaking manoeuvres and even fictitious challenges. We were trapped in the worst kind of reality TV show, in which the reality is that the producers are deceiving the viewers.’
The show’s press release in January had promised the famous competitors would ‘meet the locals ... and stay in some one-ofa-kind accommodation’.
Edmonds said they were actually put up in the Sofitel, Hyatt and other five-star hotels.
He claimed two of the teams used hire cars and the rally vehi- cles were put on low loaders so the celebrities could travel by airconditioned minibus.
He said he and his wife ‘flatly refused to co-operate’ with the producers and were the only team to drive the entire 2,500 miles in their own car. Two other contestants made it across the line as passengers in a taxi.
Edmonds insisted he was astonished that the BBC had decided to broadcast the programme.
The corporation rejected the allegations and said there was no truth to the claim that the wrap party was held in a brothel.
A spokesman said: ‘Noel has mischaracterised a programme that he hasn’t yet seen. His assertions are littered with inaccuracies. When mishaps happened during the course of the filming, this is reflected in the programme.
‘With reference to two of the celebrities not having driving licences, it is common practice in rallies for teams to include a nondriving navigator with no requirement for a licence. In a demanding drive like this, it’s not surprising that not all the original cars made it to the end – as viewers will see.
‘While it may not have felt “epic” or “unique” to Noel, to the average person it would be a privilege to take part in such a trip.’
‘Deceiving the viewers’