Paddy McGuinness on Tempting Fortune: "It took me back to doing Top Gear"

This time, the series has moved from South Africa and is set in Langkawi in Malaysia, as 12 strangers give up all of their luxuries in the ultimate test of willpower. As they take on a gruelling 18-day trek, they are faced with temptation after temptation that knocks off money from the whopping £300,000 cash prize.

So, where does Paddy McGuinness come into all of this? As host, McGuinness guides the contestants along each checkpoint, offering a major temptation along the way.

"I'd try to be a team player as much as I can but I think in somewhere like Langkawi, you're just uncomfortable," McGuinness tells RadioTimes.com. "There's one temptation where there's a full swimming pool, cool water refreshments, fruit, cold drinks.

"That'd be another one where I think after a couple of days of trekking through the jungle, it would be very tempting to go skinny dipping in that."

It's been almost two years since Tempting Fortune was first on Channel 4, with just six episodes filled with with secrecy, backstabbing and betrayal, and with it being so highly lauded, viewers will be keen to see if season 2 matches up.

"We went to a different part of the world this time," McGuinness explained. "The first series was in South Africa, which brought its own challenges for the people taking part. And rather than the next lot of people sort of thinking they know what to expect, it's totally flipped it on its head and filmed in Langkawi.

"So it was a different set of difficulties and things for them to adapt to there, as well. So I think after the first series went on and everyone really got on board, especially on social media, talking about the different people and what they'd do if they're in that situation – this second lot, it just goes up a level!"

Now in season 2, McGuinness is more involved as he gets to interact with the contestants more than before, casting an eye over whether or not they will succumb to the temptations.

Nowadays, every single channel has a reality TV show. Millions were glued to The Traitors, and plenty have loved the likes of The Mole and The Trust: A Game of Greed. While each differ with their own edge, comparisons are inevitably drawn, but for McGuinness, there is something that sets apart Tempting Fortune from the rest.

"I think the first series we did, we did before The Traitors had been on," he told RadioTimes.com.

"You can find similarities in all kinds of different shows, but that's what people like. Certain things work and certain things don't work, but I think with Tempting Fortune, it's more about real-life decisions we've all made."

He continued: "We're not talking about bloody life and death decisions, but we're talking things like after Christmas and you feel a bit peckish, and you're trying to get in shape in January like everyone else does. You go, 'Shall I have that biscuit?' It's all those normal things in life that come out on this show."

McGuinness is no stranger to presenting, with the TV star seen recently on screens in Top Gear before the BBC rested the series for the foreseeable future.

Interestingly, it's Top Gear that McGuinness likens the most to Tempting Fortune, even though the shows couldn't be further apart in their formats.

"I've got to learn everything on this one, I can't just read it," McGuinness told RadioTimes.com. "I know it's not the same show, but Tempting Fortune, when I was filming, it took me back to doing Top Gear, because you're in your office shirt, and your trousers that are made for the jungle, and you've got your boots on, you're a bit sweaty. So it was that sort of mindset."

But having presented the likes of Take Me Out, A Question of Sport and a flurry of others, McGuinness feels as though he can "slot into work on any show".

He explained: "I've done shiny floor entertainment shows, I've done adventure shows like this, I've done quiz shows, I've done pretty much everything.

"I think the show that was more similar to Tempting Fortune with the filming schedule was probably Top Gear."

Having hosted a wealth of TV shows and now a reality one, is Paddy McGuinness a fan himself? Well, not at the moment he tells us.

"Weirdly, I'm one of them people who still hasn't seen The Traitors," he admitted. "I know exactly what it is and I know what it's about but I've never seen a single episode, and I must watch it because I want to but it's a bit like when everyone was talking about things like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones and you feel as though you're far beyond the curve."

McGuinness continued: "It's just getting into it. I used to like watching Big Brother back in the day. I love Big Brother. I think Big Brother, in the first few seasons, that was the ultimate purest form of reality TV. That just changed the TV landscape.

"So I think back in the day, that was the best sort of reality TV I used to enjoy because I'd never seen it before. But things like Love Island, stuff like that – it's not for any reason, I just don't really bother with it."

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But he'll certainly be tuning into Tempting Fortune as it airs tonight on Channel 4, with plenty of fans waiting in anticipation to see if it lives up to the entertainment season 1 provided.

While there are weeks to go before the end is in sight and season 3 is yet to be announced, McGuinness still has a few ideas as to where it could go next.

"I think you could go totally different, and do it somewhere the exact opposite of where we've been, like Norway or something," McGuinness said.

"But I think there's something about the sunshine on telly and doing arduous things that just looks good and it puts different people in a certain mindset. So I don't know where it'd be next, and you know what, it really works in Langkawi.

"Let's do another one here with just different challenges and everything else. Who knows?"

Tempting Fortune begins at 9pm on Sunday 16th March on Channel 4.

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