Time to dust off the jumpsuit!
Challenge Anneka’s back after 27 years
IT might be 40 years since she launched her career with Treasure Hunt, jumping out of planes and landing helicopters.
But at 63, Anneka Rice has clearly not lost her taste for adventure – as she is set to revive Challenge Anneka nearly 30 years since the series last aired.
Stepping back into her trusty jumpsuit, the presenter will revamp the show for Channel 5, taking on different challenges with a team of volunteers in a race against the clock. Challenge Anneka, which ran on BBC One from 1989 to 1995, won 12million viewers at its peak, and involved Miss Rice persuading firms to help out with projects such as renovating a Romanian orphanage and building a suspension bridge in Cornwall.
The new series will initially run for four hour-long episodes, airing later this year.
Yesterday Miss Rice, who said the show was about ‘kindness, community and the power of the collective’, will also be reunited with Dave ‘the Soundman’ Chapman, who often appeared in front of the camera in the reality TV-style show.
Miss Rice said her presenting roles had done a lot to ‘change the face of TV’ by putting a woman in control of the action. She added: ‘Dave the Soundman and I may have 130 years between us but the whole team is as motivated as ever to make a difference and shine a spotlight on people and organisations who need help.’