Legendary survival show set to return after 20 years with game-changing twist, teases original host
A LEGENDARY survival show should be given a reboot, according to one of its biggest stars.
Ben Fogle has called for Castaway to make a return to television – 24 years on from the groundbreaking series.
The show, which followed the lives of 36 men and women on a remote island for a whole year, launched adventurer Ben’s TV career.
And now the 50-year-old wants to see the show back in the schedule with a new approach.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, the broadcaster said he would want any potential reboot to have a mental health focus.
Ben explained: “Castaway had a real simplicity to it. It was just a group of people living on an island for a whole year.
“People absolutely love that simplicity, there was no complications. It was just raw, honest and real. That’s what New Life in the Wild is, that’s what Into The Congo and Animal Park is.
“I would love to bring Castaway back to take people who have maybe been suffering their own mental health struggles to give them the therapy of a remote island and connection to nature, flora, fauna.
“I think we’ve gone through the age of more where everyone has been chasing more and we now need to go into the age of less.”
While Ben said he wasn’t sure it would deliver desired ratings for execs, he added: “in terms of people’s mental health, wow, that really would be a winner”.
While the dad-of-two praised the recent reboot of Survivor on the BBC and The Traitors, he branded them “too complicated”.
“A lot of the shows we have are too complicated, they’re quite game-showy like Traitors but all brilliant.
“They’re all full of winners and losers and I think all of the shows I’ve done over the years kind of follow the trend of what Castaway was – by that I mean they’re just good, positive shows.”
Ben’s renewed focus on mental health comes after he revealed he’s been diagnosed with ADHD.
He learned he had the neurological disorder after what he described as a ‘mental health crisis’ to The Sun.
Into The Congo with Ben Fogle, which kicks off this Sunday at 9pm on Channel 5.