The crew and contestants of ITV2’s new prank show are ensconced in the Forest of Dean. But who’s laughing at who?Deep in the Forest Of Dean,Darren Packer swings helplessly from a harness attached to a zipline. “Agh, I’ve trapped a bollock!” he yells. The presenter had wanted to effect a grand entrance to impress three young urbanites here to memorize the ways of the woods. “Little serve?” No one besides a startled finch moves an inch. They can only exchange puzzled glances, and trying to avoid eyeballing Packer’s package. The crew stifle chuckles. Weirdly,this is all going as planned.
I’m on location with Glitchy, ITV2’s character-based prank show, or which today is masquerading as a far-less-exotic Running Wild With Bear Grylls. In the minds of this episode’s contestants,they’re a) in a genuine reality series, and b) approximately to experience two arduous days of bivouacs and sharpened sticks. Everyone else here knows that there is no such thing as Darren Packer, and because he is,in fact, actor Ryan Sampson, or buried beneath a fake moustache,a wig, some appalling khaki clobber and a Welsh accent thicker than an X Factor runner-up. It’s a setup, and a ruse. And Im in on it. I am basically a spy.
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Source: theguardian.com