Eight Go Rallying: The Road to Saigon
Sunday 19 August, 9pm BBC2 Factual
4 This series follows four famous pairs on an epic rally through jungles, paddy fields and treacherous mountains in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The teams that are competing against each other in a fleet of classic cars are former EastEnders star Martin Kemp and his wife Shirlie, Noel Edmonds and his wife Liz, chef Andi Oliver and her daughter Miquita Oliver, plus mates Tinchy Stryder and Rizzle Kicks’ Jordan
Stephens.
Martin Kemp knew driving 3,000 kilometres across Southeast Asia with his wife, Shirlie, would be a oncein-a-lifetime experience, but their dream trip almost became a nightmare when they were involved in a high-speed crash.
The married couple and three other celebrity duos took part in the Endurance Rally Association’s Road to Saigon, a prestigious event where classiccar enthusiasts race through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, but in this week’s first episode Shirlie loses control of their vintage Mini Cooper…
Terrifying
‘I rolled the car and we ended up on our roof,’ explains Shirlie, backing singer to 1980s pop group Wham! ‘I heard Martin screaming, “I’m stuck!” and saw his hand was trapped between the roll bar and the ground.’
Luckily ex-EastEnders star Martin wasn’t seriously hurt and, after an emotional phone call with their son, he and Shirlie decided to carry on, seeing breathtaking sights as they travelled 3,000 km in just 12 days during this four-part series.
‘The temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia were absolutely amazing,’ explains Martin, who was also a member of pop group Spandau Ballet. ‘They were beautiful and there was a real peacefulness there, but the Killing Fields crushed us emotionally. We saw a pile of skulls and bones that were a memorial to all the people wiped out by Pol Pot and we were in floods of tears.’
Rivals
The couple are up against
Noel Edmonds and his wife,
Liz; chef Andi Oliver and her TV presenter daughter, Miquita Oliver; and close friends Tinchy Stryder and Jordan Stephens (Rizzle Kicks). So they were desperate to be the first team to reach Saigon, but they did get lost on a few occasions…
‘We weren’t allowed to use satnav,’ says Martin. ‘That was a challenge for us, because the only place we usually row is in the car over directions!’