Fan favourite duo land second series of BBC travel show after confessing ‘love’ for each other
WHEN Rob Rinder and Rylan Clark made their own Grand Tour show for BBC Two, they probably had no idea that their incredible friendship would help make it such a triumph.
Not only were the reviews of their Italian adventure positive, but the viewing figures were impressive.
There was even a hint that there could be a little love in the air.
And that’s why work is already under way on a second series.
But while the pals’ last voyage took them to Venice, Florence and Rome, this time they’re likely to visit some different cultural capitals.
A TV insider said: “It’s at the very early stages and the Beeb haven’t fully signed off on the sequel.
“But the team behind the show didn’t want to take a gap year before starting work again. So they are already looking at where Rob and Rylan’s next adventure could take them.
“And they are confident they’ll want to pair up again and hit the road.
“Whereas the last trip was confined to Italy, they could now venture to Spain, Greece or France looking for cultural enlightenment.”
The Grand Tour saw Rob and Rylan walk in the footsteps of millions of Brits who, in centuries gone by, took the same journey to broaden their minds.
Which is certainly what the duo did in front of the cameras.
Renaissance man Rob introduced his pal to art, architecture and history, while, in return, brassy singer and TV presenter Rylan gave his chum the confidence to step out of his own comfort zone.
The pair also found themselves discovering a whole new relationship they never knew existed.
Posting on X ahead of the show’s first episode, Rylan wrote: “Friendship may and often does, grow into love.”
Recently, on the Table Manners podcast, the former X Factor star also admitted they were up for a sequel.
He said: “If people like it and it goes well, we’ve already discussed where we’ll go next.”
I’d start packing now, Rylan.
FOX: PUT PIERS TO SAS TEST
JASON FOX is desperate to put TV presenter Piers Morgan through his paces on the next series of Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins.
The Channel 4 show instructor said: “It’s never going to happen, but Piers, he always fancies himself.
“If the price is right, he’s going to command a fee because he should, but he would probably do quite well, minus the fitness.”
Jason admits celebs are often “hard to crack”, like ex Health Secretary Matt Hancock who was axed in the final episode as instructors “didn’t trust him enough”.
On the Spooning With Mark Wogan podcast, he added: “They come in with media training, which is frustrating because they have a barrier up.
“But it didn’t work for Matt, he didn’t pass and he didn’t pass because we didn’t get the truth from him.”
VINNIE JONES has completed filming the second season of Into The Country.
I exclusively revealed a fresh series had been commissioned after viewers loved watching the actor renovating his 400-year-old West Sussex farm last year.
The six episodes will air on Discovery+ this year.
SEXY SET TURN TO CRIME . . .
A NEW drama from the makers of thriller The Couple Next Door is heading to Channel 4.
Patience, a crime detective series, has just completed filming in York and stars Breaking Bad actress Laura Fraser and Malpractice’s Ella Maisy Purvis.
The six-parter follows Patience Evans (Purvis), who is autistic and works in the records department of the Yorkshire police, cataloguing evidence.
She is catapulted into crime-solving when her boss, Detective Bea Metcalf (Fraser), spots her talent and passion for it.
Producers Eagle Eye Drama also put together steamy psychological thriller The Couple Next door starring Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson and Outlander’s Sam Heughan.
SURANNE: MY SPELL AS WITCH
SURANNE JONES reckons she would have been falsely labelled a witch – and dispatched with – if she lived in the 17th century.
The Gentleman Jack actress looks into the history of the sorceresses in a two-part Channel 4 documentary on Sunday – and why society hunted them down.
But after learning what it takes to be deemed one in Investigating Witch Trials, on at 9pm, she says: “I would not have survived the time period – I’m creative, outspoken, I change my look all the time, I tell stories, I love animals, I have mental-health issues, I’m perimenopausal.
“Surely you’re a witch if you’re sweating too much or your hormones are all over the place.
“I’ve birthmarks and moles everywhere, so they would have been witch marks too.
“Everything about me would have made them think they needed to get rid of me, because I would not have worked in their societal picture.”
ROSIE JONES is back for more on UKTV with a third series of her Disability Comedy Extravaganza.
The stand- up show, which celebrates disability, will air on Dave and streaming service U soon. She said: “I can’t wait to be back hosting the funniest show on television this summer.”
NEW ERA FOR WHO’S MILLIE
DOCTOR Who’s Millie Gibson is going from a time-travelling companion to a lifelong one.
The actress, whose last outing as Ruby beside Ncuti Gatwa‘s doctor, airs tomorrow on BBC One, takes the lead in new period epic The Forsyte Saga.
Millie plays scandalous Irene Forsyte, wife to Soames (Joshua Orpin), in production firm Mammoth Screen’s drama.
The 1967 original, starring Eric Porter and Nyree Dawn Porter, is considered a TV masterpiece. No pressure then,
Millie.