Ben Fogle teases return of ‘most natural reality show ever’ after years off screen – insisting telly ‘needs a rebrand’
BEN Fogle was one of the UK’s first big-name reality stars after he appeared in Castaway 2000.
Before embarking on a career as a presenter on ITV, BBC and Channel 5, he first rose to prominence on the OG reality show.
Castaway 2000 programme followed a group of thirty-six people who were tasked with building a community over the space of a year on the remote Scottish island of Taransay.
Now Ben, 50, has hit out at the ‘structured and produced’ products we see on TV today.
“Reality TV is such a broad term now,” he told me. “I’m not such a prolific watcher of Love Island.”
He continued to say that back in the noughties, the genre was in its infancy and it was somewhat more spontaneous, or at the very least ‘organic.’
Speaking to me on TALK, he admitted: “I think, if you go back to when I started out, Castaway was arguably the most organic, natural of the reality TV.
“It’s quite structured, and produced now.
“And that’s not to say it’s a bad thing. But it isn’t really reality TV anymore.”
“I think we need to re-brand the medium, but occasionally, a really honest, authentic reality show comes along,” he added.
However, the TV presenter is optimistic about the future of the genre as he hints the ‘authenticity’ element that is missing may come back.
Ben explained: “And I think that’s what we’re gonna see in the next few years, you’re gonna see more authenticity, and it will go away from the shiny primary colours and be just a bit more natural.”
He even hinted that we might eventually see a return of the hit format that was responsible of his rise to fame in the first place.
The show first came to an end in 2001, before a brief return to the format eight years later.
Speaking about his own future, the adventurer admitted: “It feels time to come full circle. 25 years on maybe I’ll go back to reality. Watch this space.”
If that doesn’t work out, Ben revealed that he has his eye on another format, the celebrity edition of The Traitors.
When asked about the prospect of a star-studded instament of the Claudia Winkleman fronted show, he said: “I’ve heard that. I mean, I love The Traitors.
“We watch it as a family. I haven’t ever done a reality show since I was an original contestant.”
He added: “Never say never, it would certainly be the one that would appeal to me the most right now.