Ruby Wax to be marooned on desert island for Channel 5 show

Ruby Wax is set to find herself marooned on a desert island as part of an upcoming Channel 5 show.

The 69-year-old comedian and actress will become an authentic castaway on a remote island off the coast of Madagascar as part of a new two-part series, Ruby Wax Castaway.

Speaking about the upcoming show, in which Wax will document her entire experience using her own handheld camera and body-cams, she said: “If people are expecting Love Island, imagine how disappointed they’re going to be…

“I like to do things that take me by surprise. I’m used to doing something a little hardcore.

“I know what it is in the beginning, it’s hell but by the end you find out why you did it.

“That may happen… Or I may sue the production company.”

Channel 5 confirmed that the show’s production team will be stationed offshore, in case of emergency, and Wax’s mental health and safety will be monitored as the experience progresses.

On Wednesday, Channel 5 announced that the new series will air later this year, in addition to a host of other new shows for 2023 featuring the likes of Ross Kemp, Tim Peake and Jay Blades.

Viewers will be taken on a journey into space in a mission to uncover the mysteries of the universe in the three-part-series Tim Peake: Secrets Of Our Universe, and treated to a look at the extraordinary history of London’s East End as 52-year-old Blades steps back in time to explore the area in which he grew up in Jay Blades: History Of The East End.

Meanwhile, documentarian and former EastEnders star Kemp, 58, is set to make his return to acting after 15 years to star as police detective Tony Warden in four-part thriller Blindspot.

Kemp is cast alongside newcomer Beth Alsbury who plays Hannah, a disabled woman with a wry sense of humour who believes she has witnessed the prelude to a murder while monitoring the CCTV on a rough estate.

Undeterred when her fears are dismissed by the apathetic, and possibly corrupt, policeman in charge of the case, Hannah finds her own life in danger as she fights to discover what really happened in the blind spot.

Also on Channel 5’s drama line-up for 2023 is The Inheritance, starring Robert James-Collier, Gaynor Faye and Jemima Rooper as siblings who are left reeling after the unexpected death of their Father, played by Larry Lamb.

Other new releases coming to Channel 5 in 2023 include a new Ben Fogle series, Endurance: Race To The Pole, The Pet Psychic, Challenge Anneka, Nick Knowles Into Death Valley and dramas including The Catch, Black Cab and The Good Friend.

Alongside an array of new titles, the broadcaster has also confirmed the return of a number of fan favourites, including Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out, The Yorkshire Vet, Motorway Cops, Cause Of Death and All Creatures Great And Small.