TAKING ON DOLPH
ATEAM from South Wales had a once in a lifetime experience when they faced off against a Hollywood superstar in South Africa for a new TV game show.
Levi Parris, 30, and his “Happy Valleys” teammates – brother Jake, 21, stepdad Ronald, 49, and Jake’s boyfriend Tomas, 26 – made a 8,000-mile trip to be part of new ITV4 show Take the Tower.
It challenges members of the public to a combination of physical challenges and quiz questions inspired by classic Hollywood action movies to win cash prizes and a luxury holiday to New York.
And if that wasn’t tough enough, at the end of the challenges teams have to face Dolph Lundgren, right, star of Rocky IV, Universal Soldier and The Expendables blockbusters.
In each episode, Lundgren chal- lenges a team to a series of games inspired by classic action movies – whether that’s navigating across a touch sensitive alarmed floor, through steep, slippery vents, being trapped in an exploding toilet or taking paintball bullets from their friends and facing Dolph in a shoot out. Teams must fight their way up 53 storeys and make it all the way to the Penthouse alive. But fail a task and there’s only one way down.
Team member Levi Parris, 30, from Ely, Cardiff, said: “It was brilliant. It was a lot of hard work and a tight schedule but the whole experience was excellent.”
For filming, the team spent 12 days in South Africa.
And what about meeting Dolph?
“I was sort of star-struck,” Levi said. “I was really nervous. I didn’t know what to say. But he was really nice. It was an amazing experience.”
Lundgren, who is in Rocky film Creed 2 coming out later this year, said: “It’s always great to be close to your fans. To do something together with them, to share something – especially some kind of contest. I kind of appreciate my role as an actor and an entertainer to make people feel good. That’s what I have done for years now and it feels nice to get the rewards of it.”
The team, from Cardiff and Caerphilly, is in the first show on Tuesday at 9pm on ITV4.