Anton Du Beke and Giovanni Pernice pack their bags and go to Spain for a BBC programme, the newest addition to a popular genre.
The appropriately named Anton and Giovanni’s Adventures in Spain is the most recent programme to join the trend of celebrities taking free vacations in the name of entertainment.
Anton, 57, and Giovanni, 33, galivanted throughout Sicily for the first episode, and it was judged they were worthy of a second series.
Watching famous people tour the world at the expense of broadcasters does not sit well with everyone, like dissatisfied fan Chris Arnott, who commented on X: ‘Is this a free trip paid for by the BBC or in other words me?’
Despite some protests, celebrities living our dream of not having to utilise annual leave to go on vacation will not go away anytime soon, whether we like it or not. The Strictly Come Dancing stars join a lengthy line of previous contestants who have brought a camera crew on vacation.
Join us as we look back at some of the genre’s more unusual contributions as the TV trend continues to permeate the TV schedule.
Absolutely Dyer: Danny and Dani Do Italy
What made this 2023 series unique was that Danny Dyer and Dani Dyer boldly and frequently claimed they have little interest in travelling and would much rather have a drink by the pool.
‘We’re not travellers, we’re not journalists, I dunno what we are,’ Danny admitted in the opening monologue. Luckily from them, as we’ve previously clarified, a lot of producers are after celebrities.
In the series, the characters explore an active volcano, eat tuna, and try squid fishing. What you may find more surprising than their unusual activities is that they claim Pizza Express serves better meals than traditional Italian restaurants. Didn’t they learn from Molly-Mae Hague?
Channel 4
Sue Perkins: Lost in Alaska
She saw Great British Bake Off finalists prepare Baked Alaska, so the logical next step was to send her to Alaska.
Sue Perkins is dispatched for a portion of the episode to learn how to prevent a bear attack. As someone who lives between Cornwall and London, it was probably not going to be very useful until she finished Nothing to Declare, but it performed the job of filling a ten-minute section.
The comic also gets her car stranded in a ditch (thank goodness a bear didn’t show up) and reflects on her recent decision to go from vegetarianism to pescatarianism while fishing.
Channel 5
Ekin-Su and Davide: Homecomings
Giving Love Island couples their own TV series is always a hazardous move. We all remember when Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes opted to spend their lives apart before Crackin’ On premiered on television.
ITV filmed Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti visiting their respective homes in Turkey and Italy to meet their relatives.
It rapidly became less about the breathtaking scenery and more about Davide snapping photos with women at an after-party. The show lacked coherence.
ITV
A Wright Family Holiday
Mark Wright left The Only Way is Essex more than a decade ago, but he chose to return to reality TV with his brother Josh Wright and his father, Mark Wright Snr, for A Wright Family Holiday, which toured Britain. They all wanted to spend more time together, so instead of planning a Sunday dinner, they packed into a car and broadcast their shenanigans to TV viewers.
There is a popular sub-trend in which TV personalities choose a parent and involve them in the act. Romesh Ranganathan already travels the world with best buddy Rob Beckett for Rob and Romesh Vs, but in 2017, determined to follow Drake’s advise and run out of stamps in his passport, he dragged his mother to America for Asian Provocateur. New additions to the list include Jack Whitehall’s Travels with My Father and Bradley Walsh: Breaking Dad.
BBC
The British Tribe Next Door
Scarlett Moffatt’s 2019 television programme has a strange idea, to say the least. For The British Tribe Next Door, a copy of the Gogglebox star’s Country Durham home was created in Namibia and she lived there with her family for a month, unlike previous series that used hotels or local residences.
Scarlett was joined by her mother Betty, father Mark, sister Ava-Grace, and grandmother Christine, all of whom had packed their 20,000 possessions for the trip to Africa.
There were other watch-your-hands moments, including a welcoming dance when the family appeared uneasy and Scarlett discussing her affinity for artificial tanning with a group of Black women.
Channel 4
Anton and Giovanni’s Adventures in Spain airs on BBC One on Mondays at 9pm. All three episodes are available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.