Channel 4’s edgy new ‘social experiment’ cuffs strangers together in a bid to heal a divided Britain. Instead, what emerges is nasty, crass and completely abysmal After his brilliantly machiavellian performance on The Celebrity Traitors, Jonathan Ross was destined to pop up on our screens again soon. Cue his big post-Traitors gig, hosting Channel 4’s new six-part “social experiment”. It is, explains Ross, a show about whether “a divided Britain [can] settle its differences”, by handcuffing two strangers from different walks of life together for 24 hours a day (including in the shower – ooh-er!) and seeing who can last the longest for a shot at a £100,000 prize. Really, though, it’s a show that manipulates those differences for views – a cheap throwback to Wife Swap at best and The Jeremy Kyle Show at worst. Each pair has clearly been selected for maximum mutual discomfort. Jo is the owner of a plus-size fashion brand and Reuben thinks fat people are lazy; Tilly spends her spare time helping homeless people while millionaire Anthony reckons he’s an expert ’cos he’s been camping before; George is a former prison officer who believes learning is the best way to empower himself while Sir Ben is an aristocrat who – despite having an expensive education – still chooses to own a painting by Adolf Hitler. Continue reading...