Professor Green signs up for Channel 5’s star-studded TV experiment Celebrity In Solitary
HE’S a self-confessed social media addict, so Professor Green will struggle when he’s locked away from the outside world for five days for a TV show.
He has has signed up for Channel 5’s Celebrity In Solitary, shooting in Belfast next month.
It’s a star-studded version of the isolation experiment, which last year saw three members of the public give it a go.
The show, presented by , sees contestants confined in a unit that has a panic button to release them if they feel like they can’t cope.
The cells are windowless and the door has no handle, but Pro will be allowed to take in three personal items, which excludes phones or games consoles, to help him through the process. It will be a real test for the hitmaker, who has been open about his struggles with mental health in the past.
He said: “I’ve gone through most of my life with anxiety and I’ve always fought against that.”
“I’ve gone through periods where I’ve taken a lot of sleepers, a lot of benzos (sedatives), not always prescribed by the doctor.
“It was that period — which was my second album, really — where I discovered Valium.
“It was like a chemical cuddle.
“I could do things, I didn’t have that worry in my head.
“But then I took too many of them and it became a constant. And stopping that is not the easiest thing in the world.
“No one tells you how quickly dependency kicks in.”
A telly source said: “Producers have focused on celebs who are heavily into social media, like Instagram and Twitter.
“While the challenge sounds quite straightforward and simple, they will find it a lot more difficult than they think.
“It’s unlikely they will all last the full five days as it’s so tough and likely to freak them out at some point.”
It sounds like a holiday to me . . .
must watch
WHAT? Bear’s Mission with Warwick Davis, ITV, 9pm.
WHY? Bear Grylls heads to the Lake District to test comic Warwick Davis’s survival skills while the two get to know each other.
Hot for Holls
THIS Morning producers made the most of the heatwave, sending Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield outside to film.
The duo were joined by security off camera in case over-excited fans got too close.
But there was no danger of Holly getting lost, her outfit made her stand out among the London commuters.
bizbit
ROGER Daltrey has supported tonight’s BBC2 special on teens with cancer at 9.30pm. He said: “I am enormously grateful to the Horizon team and the BBC for highlighting the work of the Teenage Cancer Trust.”
Burping back to the Beeb
HE’S been one of ITV’s most famous faces for more than 15 years now, but Harry Hill is jumping ship to star in a new BBC comedy – with Jennifer Saunders playing his mum.
The former TV Burp star is making a one-off pilot next month for a show which is currently called The Harry Hill Sitcom.
The Beeb is keeping the details firmly under wraps, but producers have said it is a “brilliantly mad story with an all star cast.”
Though Harry is closely associated with ITV through the likes of TV Burp and You’ve Been Framed, he actually launched his TV comedy career on BBC2 back in 1994 with Harry Hill’s Fruit Fancies.
Let’s hope this change of direction is more fruitful than his attempts to create hit musicals.
The less said about X Factor musical I Can’t Sing!, which only lasted six weeks in the West End, the better.
bizbit
AYDA Field has virtually confirmed she and hubby Robbie Williams will be X Factor judges. When quizzed on Loose Women, she teased: “It’s very rare that I am speechless but I have no comment.” Expect an announcement soon.
Model's best romance
IT’S 13 unlucky years in love since Calum Best and Bianca Gascoigne won Celebrity Love Island (as it was back then) but he could have finally met Ms Right.
He is dating model Hannah Murrell, who he met this month on an Anchored cruise in Ibiza.
A friend said: “They have a lot of chemistry.”
The couple were holding hands at a party last week where he introduced her to his friend Jamie O' Hara.
soapbox
In Coronation Street, Tracy suggests to Flora that she should invest in the florist after discovering she is worth a cool £250,000.
A disgruntled Daniel later informs Tracy that Steve kissed Michelle on her wedding day.
Eva has a scare when Susie bangs her head, and is later shocked when social services arrive at the pub, concerned for the baby’s welfare.
In Emmerdale Moira reflects on her painful past, David starts to get his hopes up, and Ross overreacts to something.
Neighbours sees Willow beg Toadie and Sonya not to get in touch with her mother, and Bea let slip to Elly that she has a significant other . . . without revealing just who it is, of course.
Eyal: Meg has slept around
THE last few days on Love Island have been all about bonking with two couples doing the deed. But there are arguments galore just around the corner.
In last night’s show the two couples who have done the horizontal tango — Wes and Laura and Eyal and Megan — all fallout.
The couples tested how well they know each other — with disastrous results.
The former clashed after Wes said he finds “arrogance and ignorance” the biggest turn off in a girl.
And Megan and Eyal had a barney after he guessed she had slept with 37 men.
She said: “I was absolutely fuming. Just because I’m open and I say I enjoy sex, it’s 2018. I’m a woman.
“I’m allowed to enjoy sex if I want to but it doesn’t mean that I’ve slept with every Tom, Dick and Harry that walks in a bar.”
Maybe she should have gone for Dr Alex instead of boring Eyal after all.