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At 51 Ben Shephard is in the best shape of his life with a topless cover shoot to prove it. But next up, is his toughest challenge yet – brand new ITV show The Summit
Ben Shephard was astonished when he bared his six pack and booted David Beckham and Jason Statham off the top slot to become the best selling cover star of fitness bible Men’s Health. The topless shot won the This Morning host a new army of fans, who he hopes will tune into his new ITV show The Summit.
One of the toughest challenge series ever made, contestants climb a mountain in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, competing for a £200K prize. Ben says: “I went up the mountain with the contestants. I was going up in a helicopter though! They were living on the side of the mountain, so every other day we would go up.”
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Also host of Tipping Point, Ben says: “We have 14 members of the public taking part and it’s one of the most extraordinary adventure shows you’ll ever see. There’s a vicar, we’ve got a landlady, we’ve got tour guides, we’ve got football scouts, we’ve got former Olympians, you’ve got a beauty coach.
“Only the ones that get to the top will share the money that’s up for grabs. It’s a game of adventure, strategy and challenge, set to this jaw-dropping backdrop, which is the Southern Alps in New Zealand near Queenstown.”
Using all the technology available to them to create the show, ITV even used Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite constellation in outer space. Ben, 51, says: “Essentially, we set up TV studios on the side of the mountain, and it was like doing a live show. Because the contestants get voted off, we did live eviction shows on the edge of the mountain.
“My producer sat in front of a bank of TVs, thanks to Starlink, thanks to Elon. He created Starlink, and they were able to talk to me live on the top of the mountain, and the camera crew could all hear them, and we made this show.”
* The Summit begins on ITV on Tuesday at 9pm.
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