Ruby Wax stranded on a tropical island for Channel 5 survival series
Ruby Wax is to be stranded on an uninhabited tropical island in a new Channel 5 survival series, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
With the working title Ruby Wax Castaway, the two hour-long episodes will follow the comedian-turned-mental health campaigner, who recently spent time receiving treatment in a psychiatric hospital, as she documents her life on the island off the coast of Madagascar, with only body-cams and a handheld camera for her to talk to.
Before heading to the island, Wax has trained in survival skills with an ex-Army specialist and met with Joanna Lumley, who made the BBC series Girl Friday in 1994, in which the Absolutely Fabulous star spent 10 days on the deserted island of Tsarabanjina near Madagascar.
More recently however, Wax has sparked concern for her well-being, announcing I'm Not As Well As I Thought I Was, her seventh, "most revelatory" book from a hospital bed.
Out on May 11th, the book will recount how she spent part of last year receiving psychiatric treatment.
"If people are expecting Love Island, imagine how disappointed they're going to be" the American-born comic said of Castaway. "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."
Wax, who recently made the BBC Two travelogue Trailblazers: A Rocky Mountain Road Trip with Emily Atack and former Spice Girl Mel B, in which the trio recreated the American journey of Victorian adventurer Isabella Bird, hopes to experience how solitude compares to conventionally busy modern lives.
Pitting her wits against Mother Nature, her daily quest will be to source the four survival priorities, water, food, fire and shelter, as she documents her thoughts on camera, with the mindfulness advocate exploring how her mind operates under the pressure.
However, members of production company Burning Bright Productions (The World According To Kenny Everett, Almost Royal) will be stationed offshore in case of emergency, with her health and safety monitored.
Ruby Wax's Castaway is produced and directed by Gareth Prescott and executive produced by Louise Quayle and Clive Tulloh, the managing director of Burning Bright, who made Girl Friday with Lumley.
He says: I have been working with Ruby Wax on and off since 1989 I am thrilled to finally get the chance to abandon her on a desert island."
The mini-series was commissioned by Channel 5 and Paramount+ commissioning editor Guy Davies.
"Castaway with Ruby Wax is a survival programme with a different perspective - Ruby has been very public about her own mental health and this process is chance for her to explore in solitude the pressure we all live under" he said. "Knowing Ruby, it will also be both hilarious, insightful and raw. We're very pleased to welcome Ruby to Channel 5 for this fascinating process."
A broadcast date for the show is expected to be announced in due course.