PEOPLE are prepared to do a lot in the name of reality TV – date their exes, live with strangers, or perform for Simon Cowell.
Now ITV will be pushing contestants to a whole new level for a new show.
I can reveal the channel has commissioned The Summit, which combines the treachery of The Traitors with the endurance of SAS: Who Dares Wins and Race Around The World.
The series — which has already been a hit in Australia — will follow a bunch of hopefuls as they climb one of the world’s highest mountains, with a share of £500,000 stuffed into their backpacks.
The brave hikers will face a series of challenges as they battle to scale the peak, all the while voting for the fellow contestants they would most like dumped from the group.
Only a handful will reach the top and share the prize pot that remains.
A TV source said: “The Summit combines back-stabbing and strategy with physical endurance and against-the-clock tension. It’s been done brilliantly on Australian TV, where the hikers climbed Mount Cook in New Zealand.
“The two series produced high-octane drama, nail-biting moments of peril and good, old-fashioned reality TV drama between warring factions.
“ITV is casting now for the first British series, which will follow the same format and similarly fly out to one of the world’s most brutal peaks.”
I’d rather do six weeks in the Big Brother house.
