FORMER footballer Paul 'Gazza' Gascoigne and Gogglebox star turned TV presenter Scarlett Moffatt are among the contestants in a new reality series where celebrities must live together in total darkness for five days.
Hosted by EastEnders star Danny Dyer, Scared of the Dark starts on Channel 4 on Sunday April 16 at 9pm and will air nightly until Thursday, at which point those remaining in the competition will have endured 180 hours of darkness.
Paul Gascoigne, Scarlett Moffatt, former professional boxers Chris Eubank and Nicola Adams, comic Chris McCausland, actor Donna Preston, reality star Chloe Burrows and singer Max George will live together in The Bunker, "a purpose-built living space designed to block out any light and rigged with 50 infrared cameras", where they will "endure the mounting psychological pressures of light deprivation, while also encountering their most primal fears in genuinely terrifying and faceless challenges".
Those who fail the tasks assigned to them will "lose their privileges", while successful contestants "get treats and time in the light". Clinical psychologist Dr Tharaka Gunarathne will be providing commentary on what is happening to the participants emotionally and physiologically and on the relationships which form between them.
"One of the hardest challenges the celebrities face is dealing with the unknown," says Dr Gunarathne.
"Their psychological sense of uncertainty is at an all-time high. When you can’t see, your brain fills in the blanks and often imagines the worse. When you switch off the lights your ability to stay safe is suddenly threatened and that is what makes this particularly frightening.”
Should any celebrity feel that they can't endure another second of darkness, saying the phrase "I'm scared of the dark" will enable them to stop the task and leave the show. At the end of the fifth day, a peer-to-peer vote will determine the ultimate winner of Scared of The Dark.
“This is possibly one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever done in my career, and I have done a lot of mad things," says Danny Dyer.
"Throw in a bunch of celebs and make them do things with the lights off – it’s proper good telly. You’re gonna laugh, you’re gonna laugh some more and I promise you’re gonna love it.”
We spoke to Paul Gascoigne about taking part in the new show...
Why did you say 'yes' to Scared of The Dark?
I don't know why. It's too late to go home! No, I see all the other reality shows, and I watch some of them, some of them I don't like watching because there's some people that are on there that are not even famous. They're on there because of their mam or dad or whatever. But then this comes along, and I thought, "Oh, I'll get this challenge in."
But at the moment, I'm trying not to think about it, because my mam said, "Paul, you're frightened of the dark." I went, "Mam, I was seven years of age then. I'm 55 now." God almighty. So yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It's a challenge. I want to give it the full whack and go all the way.
What's the scariest moment you've ever had in the dark?
Years ago, I was in Italy, and I had this Bart Simpson alarm clock. And it used to say, "Hey dude, get out of bed and get out to work." And all of sudden all the electricity went off because of the rain. I'm trying to find out where the plug was to put the electricity back on, and I touched the alarm thing. I absolutely s*** myself. It was Bart Simpson saying, "Hey dude, get out of bed." That was quite scary, to be fair.
Do you have any other fears or phobias?
Just snakes and heights. I mean, I hate flying. I don't like the turbulence. I don't like flying, even though I flew around the world, but I hate it. I don't like snakes. I've met a lot of snakes in my time, but the slippery ones. Just those two, really.
Is there anything that you're worried about going into this experience?
I'm not scared of anything, because of what I've been through in my life. People keep saying, "You've got more lives than a cat." That's because I have. I've had near death experience, 36 operations, I've died a couple of times, and they've put me in a coma for 18 days. So I've come through all that, so hopefully this'll be a little bit easier than what I've put myself through.
But I know it's going to be a challenge. I don't want to speak to anyone, because they're always saying, "Oh, it's going to be tough. It's going to be tough." And I can't be bothered to listen to all that. I know it's going to be quite tough, but I'm looking forward to it. And then obviously, there must be girls going in there, so I don't want to be embarrassing myself in front of girls. I want to be macho, man.
Have you done any preparation?
When I did the pre-interview for the show, I was sitting in the light and had to get up and it went pitch black. I had to walk five to six yards to the chair, and I couldn't find the chair, and then my head hit the mic. And all of a sudden, I just went, "Oh my God. That's five yards and I've got people round us, and I know where they are." So when I was going home I was like, "S***. I couldn't even find my chair back there". So I'm just going to ground, just crawl round. There'll be a week of me on my hands and knees. I'll be like a new crab.
How do you think you’ll cope in the bunker?
I'll probably work out in the dark, I'll do some sit-ups and some squats and stuff like that. It might just pass the time a little bit. But yeah, I know it's going to be tough. I don't know until I actually get in there. I suppose, obviously, I won't know who's in with us, but if I end up talking to someone, I'll try and just have a laugh with them.
I was speaking to my sister, I said, "F*** it. I'm just going to pretend I'm in Disney World." That's the only way I can think about it. "Right, I'm in Disney World, and I'm talking to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and Minnie Mouse and all that." Just try and keep it like that. See how long I can last with that.
Listen, when you've put your arm around Maggie Thatcher and you've kissed Princess Diana - I mean, I was at Wembley not long ago and Prince William was there, and I just went over, climbed a couple of seats at Wembley and kissed him. He went, "Hi, Gazza." And I gave him a kiss and just went back to my seat. So no one really bothers us. No one gives a s***.
When you get invited to Gaddafi's house and there's a big bomb in the living room, and you've got to sign something for Gaddafi, that's more worrying, put it that way. I was s****ing myself. There was loads of press there and everybody. It was just like, "Wow."
To be fair, I'm 50/50. I'm looking forward to it, and I know it's going to be a challenge. I can only do the best I can, and I think I'm quite good at dealing with things.
Are you worried that you might forget that you're being filmed?
Yeah, I got this stupid habit not long ago, I was just blowing my nose for no reason, pop my ears and that. And I thought, "God almighty. I'm going to have to stop all that." I'm just trying to take it in good humour, I'm looking forward to it, to be fair, more than anything.
What do you think you'll bring to the group?
I like to think that I'm a caring person anyway. I don't think I've got a nasty bone in my body. But I can snap now and again, but that's not very often. But it may be just a laugh. I’ll definitely have a laugh. Try and keep everyone's spirits up. Not the ones I used to drink but try and keep everyone's spirits up. And just take it from there.
Have you thought about what kind of tasks they might get you doing?
I think one might be an eating one. I'm thinking, "What happens if I fail a task? Am I getting buried somewhere?" Because I suffer from claustrophobia a little bit. I can't really think of anything really because it's in the dark. It's going to be tough, I think.
Do you think it'll get competitive?
I think so. I'm a competitive person. I had to be doing what I did for a living.
How do you think you'll all entertain yourselves while you're in there?
I think there'll be a few people on tenterhooks for a start. So I think everyone will be a bit nervous, I think. Because you can't see who's in there, and you'll be wondering who that is and all that. For me, it's just try and get in there and to settle down as quick as possible and try work out a few bearings where I am and what I'm up to and stuff like that. I mean, who knows? I might spend 24/7 on the toilet. At least you know where you are. Spend the whole week s****ing myself.
:: Scared of The Dark starts on Channel 4 on Sunday April 16 at 9pm.
