CELEBRITIES GET THEIR MOTORS RUNNING
NO, it’s not an Enid Blyton novel for the 21st century. It’s Channel 5 recruiting some famous faces (“famous”, as always, to be taken with a large pinch of salt), putting them in a couple of motorhomes and sending them off around Blighty for a little holiday. And yes, it does sound like something straight out of the Alan Partridge school of commissioning ideas. Presumably Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank is on next month.
Those hardy souls taking part include Birds of a Feather and Strictly star Lesley Joseph, who despite being 72 and barely five foot, is game for anything and damn impressive behind the wheel of her three-tonne beast.
She’s joined by Porridge actor Don Warrington, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum star Melvyn Hayes and Kenny Everett companion turned reality star and tequila ambassador (apparently that’s a real job) Cleo Rocos. And, probably to stop the average age nudging too high, Haircut 100 singer Nick Heyward.
They’ve all been thrown together and put into a pair of whopping great big motorhomes to see how they get on as they drive across Blighty to explore some pretty fine tourist hotspots. And, fair play to them (and perhaps to the dismay of the programme makers), they all do a good job of getting along, negotiating the tricky roads and putting up with the cramped conditions.
Well, apart from Death in Paradise actor Don, who from the very first night simply refuses to sleep in his bunkbed slash coffin and books himself into a fancy yurt on the campsite instead.
The first episode sees them travel to Wales to visit Pembrokeshire, the Gower Peninsula and Fishguard. And other than a knocked-off wing mirror (or “lost earring”, as glamorous non-driving Cleo puts it) it’s all happy camping so far.