BB FANS

SWASHBUCKLING contestants on a new Pirates of the Caribbean-style reality show will have to walk the plank off a ship when they are evicted.

The ITV series, Press Ganged, has been devised by the creators of the smash-hit I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!

Fourteen of the wannabes who applied to be contestants have already been “snatched” from their everyday lives by heavies without warning.

They were shoved on to an 18th-century clipper which then set sail for the Mediterranean. The 14 were divided into two teams who will compete against each other to sail the ship.

Contestants who fail in their duties will be forced to walk the plank and swim to shore — though the clipper will be near a coastline.

An insider on the £2million show said: “The idea is to recreate the conditions when people were grabbed against their will and made to work on ships.”

The show, going out in October, was commissioned even though an Irish version called Cabin Fever ended in disaster when its ship hit rocks and SANK.

The Irish producers are threatening to sue ITV, claiming their idea has been ripped off. But ITV insist Press Ganged is “entirely original”.

Sun

ULRIKA Jonsson will front a soccer reality show in which celebs train at Newcastle FC before taking on professionals.

Ulrika, 36 — who has had affairs with Sven Goran Eriksson and Stan Collymore — will host The Match, made by the producers of Big Brother.

A squad of 18 celebs will spend a week training while being filmed 24 hours a day before the public vote on who makes the squad.

The show will be screened on Sky One from October.


Sun

Popstars returns for third series


Duo Jemini flopped at the Eurovision Song Contest
The Popstars talent show is to return for a third series, hoping to uncover the next big musical act.
One of the formats being considered is a search for a boy-girl duo, instead of the usual five-piece group.

The last series of the ITV1 show brought together both Girls Aloud and One True Voice, pitting them head-to-head in the singles charts.

Girls Aloud won the battle, while One True Voice failed to set the pop world alight and split up within a year.

Hear'Say, the group formed by the winners of the first series, also had a tough time, initially storming the charts but struggling to maintain their popularity.

They finally disbanded in 2002 after less than two years together.

Disillusion

A Granada spokesman said Popstars: Boy Meets Girl was one of several ideas being considered.

Duos are rare in today's pop scene. Eurovision entrants Jemini are among the most memorable of recent times, largely due to their dismal performance at the competition when they scored "nil points".

No judges have yet been announced, but it is thought Pete Waterman will no longer take part following his disillusion with the TV talent show format.

He refused to hide his disappointment when Scottish singer Michelle McManus won the final of last year's Pop Idol, for which he was a judge.
bbc

Ex RI:SE presenter Kirsty and Phil Tufnell team up to host Simply The Best

Phil Tufnell hard at work on his new show — on the beach with gorgeous Kirsty Gallacher.
The pair host Simply The Best — a gladiators-style event where fit contestants battle it out in mental and physical games.

And it’s clearly tough for poor old Tuffers, 38, as he takes a break with curvy Kirsty, 28, in Jersey. The ITV1 show goes out next month.

Sun

Ramsay signs US Hell's Kitchen deal

Hot-headed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has signed a deal to make an American version of Hell's Kitchen.

The former Glasgow Rangers footballer, famed for his foul-mouthed outbursts, is said to have signed with Fox for an undisclosed amount to make a US show similar to ITV's Hell's Kitchen.

He said: "I flew to Los Angeles last week and signed up a deal with Fox.

"The format will be a little different. The chefs won't be celebrities this time, just ordinary men and women who think they can make it in the kitchen."

He said the winner of the programme, which would be shown on Friday nights, would receive their own restaurant in Hollywood worth two million dollars.

Filming on the show is expected to start in September.

Ananova

Wife Swap to go nude

WIFE Swap could become Wife STRIP after producers signed up nudists for the next series.
Channel 4 is now planning a naked special episode — along with shows featuring lesbian and gay couples with kids.

The radical move follows the phenomenal success of the reality show.

Five million viewers tuned in last Wednesday to see housewife Tracy swap her mansion for single mum Shaz’s East London council flat.

An insider on the show confirmed: “We are already working on the next series and have been looking at more unusual families, including naturists and gay couples.”


DO you want to appear on Wife Swap? The producers are looking for families with spoilt children to star in the next series.
Sun

Dell'Olio set for Strictly Come Dancing turn



Nancy Dell'Olio, the flamboyant former girlfriend of England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, is poised to steal the limelight from her erstwhile partner by signing up for a new series of the hit BBC show Strictly Come Dancing.

Ms Dell'Olio, who reportedly told friends she wanted to be a "celebrity in her own right" after breaking up with Mr Eriksson, is seriously considering taking part in the new series of the Saturday night show after BBC bosses said she was on their wish list.

A BBC spokesman today confirmed the corporation had approached Ms Dell'Olio about taking part, and she had not turned down the opportunity.

"We spoke to her for the first series and we are now speaking to everyone again to everyone who wasn't able to do the first one. We have spoken to her," he said.

"She hasn't said no, and talks are ongoing. We're sounding her out, along with sportsmen, actors and presenters, to make sure there's someone for everyone."

Ms Dell'Olio recently told Hello! magazine she only turned down the opportunity to appear in the last series - won by the BBC presenter Natasha Kaplinsky - because "the timing was wrong" ahead of the European football championships.

The BBC confirmed this week it would make a second series of the show next year, with Bruce Forsyth and Kaplinsky lined up as presenters.

The first series finale earlier this month attracted 9 million viewers, making Strictly Come Dancing BBC1's biggest new Saturday night entertainment hit for many years.

In the first series a diverse set of celebrities - including rugby player Martin Offiah and EastEnders star Christopher Parker - were paired with bona fide ballroom experts to compete on the dance floor.

The combination of celebrities trying to ballroom dance, acid-tongued expert judges, a viewer vote and fabulous costumes delivered something the BBC has been struggling to find - a Saturday night entertainment hit.
mediaguardian

BBC2 is getting in on the genealogy boom with a new show in which 10 celebrities - including Bill Oddie, Jeremy Clarkson, Vic Reeves and Meera Syal - will research their family trees.
Who Do You Think You Are? is one of the centrepieces of new BBC2 controller Roly Keating's autumn season - although he will have inherited nearly all the programmes in the upcoming schedule from his predecessor, Jane Root.

In each episode of Who Do You Think You Are? a celebrity will set about investigating their family tree.

The show is still in production, but several of the celebrity participants have already found family members they did not previously know existed or discovered new branches of their respective clans.

BBC2 will broadcast a five-minute programme after each broadcast, telling viewers how they can research their own family history using methods used in the programme.

The series will be supported by a BBC website, interactive TV service, free booklets, 12 roadshows around the UK and 300 events organised in association with the Archive Awareness Campaign.

A BBC4 spin-off show will feature stories of ordinary people whose life has been changed by the discoveries they made while exploring their family's past.
mediaguardian

Other upcoming BBC2 shows themed around the post-September 11 world include The Grid, a major drama co-production with US broadcasters Fox and TNT, which stars Dylan McDermott and Julianna Margulies in a story about American and British intelligence agencies' struggle to combat al-Qaida terrorism.

And BBC2 will also be broadcasting Crisis Command, a reality show in which three contestants run the country during a potential national disaster, recreated with dramatic footage.

BBC2 is coming to the rescue of cash-strapped twenty- and thirtysomethings with Bank of Mum and Dad, a new factual show in which parents are called in to sort out the finances of their adult offspring.

Dragon's Den is a new BBC2 business format for the autumn, in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to five successful business leaders, who have up to £150,000 to invest.

In the area of more traditional observational documentaries, BBC2 will be offering up This is My Family, a series looking at different families facing up to challenges including schizophrenia and adopting children with learning difficulties.

Arts programming for the autumn includes Venice, a major documentary series exploring the history and culture of the Italian city, presented by Venetian aristocrat, architect and historian Count Francesco de Mosto.

mediaguardian

C4 out to make a millionaire
A NEW TV reality show will give ordinary people the chance to earn themselves a million as entrepreneurs.


Channel 4’s Make Me A Million will pit contestants against each other to see if they can make their fortunes in the tough business world.

Three self-made millionaires who amassed their money through blood, sweat and tears will help the contestants and give advice.

Anyone who manages to make a fortune will be able to keep the profits.

The show, to be screened next year, is being filmed by the creators of the hugely-popular Wife Swap.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: “It is too early to say exactly how the series will take shape, but we are hoping to make millionaires.

“The programme is all about seeing if it is possible for average Brits to make a fortune by turning them into entrepreneurs. We are hoping it will be a very uplifting programme with the whole range of emotions on show.”

The four-part series is hailed as the answer to The Apprentice — the US show where contestants competed for a $250,000 job overseeing the building of a 90-storey tower block.

Each week billionaire Donald Trump set a number of tasks, ranging from selling lemonade on street corners to renovating apartments, before announcing to an unsuccessful candidate: “You’re fired”.

The US version will be broadcast on BBC2 in the autumn, followed next year by a UK adaptation starring Sir Alan Sugar.
Sun

Channel: Sci-Fi
Date: Thursday 16 September Time: 9:00pm to 10:00pm



Mad Mad House

Channel 4 to screen 'Priest Idol'


The new vicar will try to attract people to an undisclosed parish
Channel 4 will screen a new series which aims to boost a congregation in a parish with poor church attendance.
With the working title Priest Idol, the show will give a vicar 12 months to boost the church's turnout.

Backed by advisors, the vicar will be able to spend an undisclosed sum of money on anything he or she thinks will appeal to parishioners.

Being filmed in Wakefield, west Yorkshire, the three-part series is due to be broadcast at the end of 2005.

'Forward-looking'

"It will feature a parish whose church is on the verge of closing, attracting only eight or nine people each week," a Channel 4 spokesman said, "but it is quite a forward-looking area which is willing to risk a new approach."

The vicar at the centre of the series will not be selected via a Pop Idol-style talent contest, the spokesman said.

He added: "By the end of the year the vicar will have to convince the local bishop and archbishop that he or she is the person for the job."

The series is being made by independent production company Diverse.


bbc

Wife Swap participant Lizzy Bardsley is to run a Blackpool B&B for a new reality TV show.

Unemployed Lizzy and husband Mark, once dubbed Britain's laziest couple, will launch their own business during the seaside town's popular illuminations season for two weeks.

Channel 4 will show their efforts early next year during a four-episode series to be called Bed & Bardsley. Celebrities will be among their guests.

An insider said: "Lizzy and Mark had enough trouble trying to cope on Wife Swap so goodness knows how they will handle their own B&B.

"We could have a new Sybil and Basil Fawlty in the making. There should be a lot of fireworks with some surprise visitors."

The pair, who have eight children, caused outrage when they appeared on the reality TV hit and revealed they lived off £37,000 a year in state handouts.

The programme, from the makers of Wife Swap, is also set to get ruder with a late night 11pm slot
Ananova

Rod Stewart rejects reality TV offer
Ageing rocker Rod Stewart has rejected a $45m (€36.5m) deal for his family to star in a reality television series like The Osbournes.

The Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? Singer turned down MTV's offer of $9m (€7.3m) for 12 episodes - with another $36m (€29m) if the show was a ratings success - claiming: "Private life is private."

But he admits that it would have made an entertaining show, saying:"When I look at my household with my kids and dogs and dog sh*t, it's very, very similar to Ozzy.

"Both of us have got this paranoia about dog poo. His family have four dogs and he said: 'Every time I look at my lovely house there's dog s**t because all my kids have little chihuahuas.'"
breakingnews

Kings Of Comedy a new reality show on E4 from mid-Oct

Old and new comics living together BB style dont know for how long yet but they will be all trying to get a broadcasting deal.

Comics who are rumoured to be taking part are, Bernard Manning, Jim Bowen and Frank Carson.