Television highlights, soaps and seven-day listings
News presenter Kay Burley, 57, and MP and former Royal Marine Commando Johnny Mercer, 37, are an unlikely double act in Celebrity Hunted, where they try to evade capture for 14 days. They explain why they accepted the charity challenge
Why did you two want to do this show?
JOHNNY: I wanted to do this show because every year I do something for charity. I use my incredibly privileged position as a member of parliament to raise money for charity. Last year I did something for Helping Heroes, Justice of Women, cycling around Europe, and this year I’m going on the run with the brilliant Kay Burley to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer.
KAY: I’m doing it because I have a very strong connection with several cancer charities, and I always try and raise their profile if I possibly can. So when I was approached to do Hunted I was delighted. I approached Johnny and said, “Please will you come with me?” He’s brilliant, he’s talented, he was a former commando so I know he’s going to look after me and hopefully we’ll have a lot of fun along the way as well.
Kay, you’ve spoken in the past about your own cancer scare so it must be an issue close to your heart?
KAY: Three of my very closest girlfriends have all died from brain tumours, it’s a wretched disease.
My girlfriends were in their fifties and sixties and each one of them has suddenly died of a brain tumour, either as a result of breast cancer or secondary cancer.
Actually, one of them died very quickly, so I’ll be thinking about them a lot as we walk towards the finish line.
What would they think of you doing this?
KAY: I can hear them all saying to me: “you’re a daft bat, but thank you!”
Obviously Johnny, given your military background, this must be a walk in the park?
JOHNNY: Well, this is a bit of a mess because my skill in the military was co-ordinating aircraft to drop bombs and, fortunately no-one lets you do that in London anymore, so I’m not sure what skills I bring.
But I will certainly try and keep Kay’s spirits up. She’s a great woman and I think we’ll keep each other going and we will hopefully be successful and raise as much money as we can for Stand Up To Cancer.
You both must be so well connected, so what is the strategy?
KAY: Well our strategy is to go on the run, to have some fun, to try to evade the hunters and use our network as best we can.
How are you planning to get into parliament to vote?
JOHNNY: Well luckily the hunters are so bad that I can just waltz my way back into London, do my job and waltz back out, so I don’t really see it as being particularly difficult!
I think it’s going to be harder, you know, as we get further around the country. It’s going to be good fun.
It’s a crazy time in world news and politics, how are feeling about taking yourself out of that?
KAY: It’s going to be so hard, actually, because the first thing I do in the morning is check my phone, Twitter and check the internet to see what’s happening news wise.
There’s never been a better time as far as politics is concerned, and the first election I covered was in 1979 when Margaret Thatcher won.
It’s an incredible time to be covering politics. So yes, I’m going to miss that.
Are you looking forward to almost going back to basics, forgetting about work and all the pressures that come with that?
JOHNNY: It’s been such a tumultuous time, I think, and it’s such an extraordinarily busy job, and you are dictated to by events outside of your control so It’s going to be nice to have a bit of time away from that.
Dom Joly has been joking that if the Government falls while you’re away that you could be the designated survivor and end up Prime Minister...
JOHNNY: As in I’ll be the only ONE left? Yes! I think that’s the only way I’d ever get anywhere, unfortunately.
Are you worried you might have a blazing row and split up?
KAY: No, we won’t split up. I think we are both quite volatile, on occasion, but we’re quite solid as well, and if we need to stomp around the field and come back again, we will, and then we’ll come back and have a good laugh and continue onwards.
Some of the others have got disguises to help them, have you?
JOHNNY: No, I’m pretty sure no-one will recognise us, well, certainly not me!
KAY: Well I’m hoping that they do recognise us and then hopefully help us!
Do you think the general public will be a help or a hindrance?
JOHNNY: They’ll be a help to Kay but once they find out that I’m a member of parliament, I think they’ll be falling over themselves to phone us in!
KAY: I think they would be very much a help, unless they are Peter Andre fans, if they are then I’m screwed! JOHNNY: She made
him cry!
Finally, what is your message to the hunters?
KAY: Catch us if you can. JOHNNY: Get a proper
job!