After watching a convicted contract murderer extract illegal tobacco from his buttocks, a Tory MP was left gasping for air.
Former EastEnders star Sid Owen, Gogglebox’s Marcus Luther, actor and comedian Tom Rosenthal, pop star HRVY, journalist Peter Hitchens, former Conservative politician Neil Parish, and sitting Conservative MP and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Johnny Mercer star in the new show Banged Up, which premieres tonight.
The renowned faces are imprisoned within HMP Shrewsbury, a Victorian penitentiary that was abolished in 2013.
The prison doors are reopened for a one-of-a-kind experiment in which well-known convicts experience firsthand what life is like on the inside, sharing tight quarters with ex-cons.
After being taken inside, things rapidly get out of hand as Mercer gets a bit more than he bargained for.
Mercer acknowledges throughout the show that he understands very little about the jail system.
He was a choir boy who attended a ‘posh school’ and then served in the British Army for almost a decade.
He was elected to the House of Commons in 2015 and now wants to see if prison helps.
On arriving, he encounters Kevin, a convicted contract killer who prepares a salad for Johnny using materials purchased from the prison shop while describing how he used to “run people over.”
Kevin reveals how he believes his crime stems from the fact that he didn’t have a father and took anything that didn’t belong to him, prompting Johnny to wonder if prison can really rehabilitate someone like this.
In a clip ahead of the show, the two men are shown chatting as Mercer asks his new cellmate if he is ‘having a s***’ as Kevin leans over the toilet and asks for some toilet paper.
‘It’s in your ass,’ he asks, clearly looking worried about what is about to unfold.
‘You’re f***ing not right,’ he declares as Kevin starts to laugh.
‘Believe me. Until I went to prison, nothing went up my ass,’ Kevin declares.
Mercer stares in disbelief as Kevin sits on the toilet and begins the process of retrieving the tobacco.
He then shows off the fruits of his labour to the politician, who says: ‘Jesus Christ. That’s come out of your ass!?’
Kevin tells a horrified Mercer that the cigarettes they can share are now ready to enjoy after cleaning some poo off the contraband.
But suddenly the smell of faeces wafts across the room, sending Mercer racing to the window for some fresh air.
Banging on the window, he then tells Kevin off for ‘having a s*** in a closed room’.
Unfazed, Kevin then discloses that he’s also discovered a cigarette lighter, which he’s stuffed up his bum for safe keeping.
After punching through the window, it becomes evident that Mercer may be in some danger himself.
The men then joke about getting in jail due of the shattered windows, with Kevin pointing out that he didn’t break it, but Mercer stated he wouldn’t have had to if it hadn’t been for the overwhelming odour.
However, nothing he observed seemed to bother the politician, with Mercer later observing him smoking a cigarette in his cell.
According to Channel 4, all of the series’ cellmates have served their terms and are now rehabilitated.
Banged Up is airing tonight from 9.15pm on Channel 4.