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MARTIN'S NEW PROJECT
Martin Roberts lands huge new ITV show in bid to become the next Jeremy Clarkson
Martin also told of how a heart scare in 2022 has shaped his whole outlook on life
MARTIN Roberts will be hoping Jeremy Clarkson considers imitation is the biggest form of flattery as he embarks on a strikingly similar TV project.
I can reveal the Homes Under The Hammer presenter is doing up a pub in Wales and recording his efforts for a new TV series — just like Jezza’s journey with his Cotswolds boozer The Farmer’s Dog.
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But that’s about where the comparison ends.
Martin said: “I’m renovating a pub in Wales at the moment — using local youngsters, giving them a chance to get construction skills.
“And we’re going to have those apprentices involved throughout the whole thing.
“They’re going to be running it and doing a cookery school and all sorts of things.
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“And the renovating, that will be a TV series too.”
The series will air on ITV and be an extension of Oops I Bought A Pub!, a mini-series Martin has been producing for YouTube and his social media.
Now he has also told how his heart scare in 2022 has shaped his whole outlook on life.
The TV favourite underwent emergency heart surgery after doctors told him he had just hours to live.
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He had pericardial effusion, a build-up of fluid around the heart, which caused chest pains and shortness of breath — but which he had initially thought were a symptom of long COVID.
Martin explained: “I had a big heart scare a couple of years ago. Looking back, it was pretty bad at the time.
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“But when you reflect on being three hours from death, you sort of think everything is now a bonus, which I wouldn’t necessarily have had.
“And I think that spurs you on. I’m supposed to be taking it easy, but I’m doing the opposite because there’s so much to do.
“I’ve just got to get on with it because I don’t know what’s around the corner.
“My health is OK but whenever I get a little twinge in the heart, I panic. But, you know, I’m OK.”
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Now, Martin’s only New Year resolution is to finally open the doors of his pub, The Hendrewen Hotel in Blaencwm, South Wales.
Cheers, Martin. We’ll certainly all drink to that.
AINSLEY'S ROYALLY CHUFFED
IT’S been four decades since Ainsley Harriott first hit telly screens, as resident chef on ITV’s Good Morning with Anne and Nick.
But with a TV billing just before King Charles on Christmas Day, Ainsley now reckons his career has peaked. It will launch another big year for him.
The bubbly cook told me: “On Christmas Day, I’ve got Ainsley’s Festive Flavours which is going on ITV just before the King – I’m opening for the King!
“And then, on January 4, I’ve a new series on ITV called Fabulous Flavours.
“We look at food from all over the world and I’m happy. We’ve got great guests and that’s going to be another Saturday morning feast, if you want to tune in.
“There’s Brian Conley on Christmas Day with me, too. It’ll just be people who want to come on and have a bit of fun.”
Sounds like the perfect antidote to everything happening on a certain other cookery show right now.
C4 DOC PROBES LIFE OF JACKO
CHANNEL 4 are making a docu-series looking at the dramatic events in 2005 when the singer was in court facing child-molestation charges.
Four-parter The Trial of Michael Jackson, examines what was hailed as “the trial of the century” and will feature contributors who have never before spoken publicly about what took place.
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More than 2,000 journalists from across the world descended on the small city of Santa Maria, California as Jacko was accused of offences against Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged abuse at the hitmaker’s Neverland Ranch.
Jackson was eventually found not guilty and walked free from court – but his career would never fully recover, even by the time of his death in 2009 aged 50.
The new documentary looks back on his life and his relationship with the media which culminated in the six month courtroom circus.
Samantha Anstiss, of series makers Wonderhood Studios, said: “Through the prism of the trial in which he was found not guilty we explore his life, alongside themes of race, justice, money and fame, to tell this tragic tale.”
The Trial of Michael Jackson is likely to air next year.
GROMIT A MUTT WATCH
NICK PARK will on Christmas Day unveil his first Wallace & Gromit film for 14 years.
And he’s hoping the beloved cartoon encourages viewers to actually watch TV live for a change.
The Aardman Animations chief said: “There’s something very special about everyone watching at the same time.
“As a nation we don’t do that so much any more because of streaming and other reasons. But it would be a marvellous thing to achieve if we could bring people to a live broadcast and have that feeling of togetherness.”
Vengeance Most Fowl will broadcast at 6.10pm on the big day, so Nick will just be hoping that not too many viewers have nodded off after tucking in to an enormous Christmas lunch.
DAN TO HIT ROAD AGAIN
DAN WALKER clearly does not like to stay in one place for long, because he is teasing a new travel show.
His Channel 5 series Yorkshire Great And Small, with Helen Skelton, was a big hit with viewers – and now it seems he has a new project with the same channel.
The former BBC Breakfast host, who quit the Beeb in 2022, was chatting at the Television and Radio Industries Christmas lunch.
He said: “I’m not allowed to say what it is, but there is something. I have to go somewhere to film something very interesting next year.”
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Since quitting morning telly, Dan has presented Channel 5 specials including Nicola Bulley: The Disappearance That Gripped Britain and The Titan Sub Disaster: Minute by Minute.
It’s all very different from his days on the sofa at BBC Breakfast.
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