Paddy McGuinness travels through South African wilderness in a black CAB on Tempting Fortune

Paddy McGuinness left the contestants on his new show Tempting Fortune in shock when he made a grand entrance.

In a clip obtained exclusively by MailOnline, the 49-year-old presenter surprised viewers as he arrived at a beach in the South African desert in a black cab from London.

Tempting Fortune, a new big-budget game show in which 12 strangers forego all luxuries to endure a grueling 18-day challenge through the toughest terrain, for a shared prize pool of £300k.

To take home the prize money, all they need to do is resist their desires for comfort, refusing fancy add-ons to live on only basic rations and equipment.

If they choose, they can pay for hot meals, hot showers, and luxury bedding, but this comes at considerable cost. If only one person decides to fulfill her wish, she is stealing the prize pool.

After getting out of his black cab and introducing himself to the contestants, Paddy was quick to explain the rules.

He said: ‘On the way you will find temptations that will make your life much easier, but everything has a price…

“And if any of you can’t make it to the end of the ride, 25k will be taken out of the prize fund.”

He added: ‘They have everything they need, but do they have everything they want? That is a different story.

Channel 4 announced that Paddy will present Tempting Fortune a fortnight after two of his BBC programmes, Catchpoint and I Can See Your Voice, were taken down by the Corporation.

It comes amid a turbulent period in his career after ITV’s dating favorite Take Me Out was axed after 11 series in 2020.

He initially rose to stardom alongside fellow Bolton comedian, the hugely popular Peter Kay, on Phoenix Nights after working as a lifeguard and fitness instructor at a leisure center for over seven years.

During an interview with Absolute Radio in 2021, Paddy revealed that she made more money while working at Horwich Leisure Center than she did on the beloved show, adding that she was scared to leave the role.

One to Watch: Tempting Fortune, a new big-budget game show in which 12 strangers forego all luxuries to endure a grueling 18-day challenge through the toughest terrain.

In addition to stand-up touring, Paddy continued to make regular television appearances, including a supporting role on This Morning and two series of Rory and Paddy’s Great British Adventure with comedian Rory McGrath.

He then landed the role of presenter for ITV’s primetime Saturday night show Take Me Out, in which a single man would arrive on stage in a “love elevator” before being greeted by a panel of 30 women. .

Every woman has a ‘light’ on and the man has to try to convince as many women as possible to leave the lights on for him before he chooses the girl he likes.

When the boy had found his match, the couple would go on a date at the fictional location of Isla de Fernando in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife.

But the show was canceled by bosses in February 2020, with ITV saying the show had “run its course” after airing for nine years.

However, a year before the show was cancelled, McGuiness landed a coveted role as one of the three hosts of Top Gear with Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris.

In 2021, he began hosting Question Of Sport, but has lost a significant amount of viewers since Paddy took over the hosting spot.

The BBC sports quiz show was helmed by Sue, 66, from 1997 until last year when she was replaced by McGuinness, with audiences falling to an average of 850,000 for this series, according to The Sun.

Tempting Fortune begins Sunday March 26 at 9pm on Channel 4

tempted? To take home the prize money, all they have to do is resist their desires for comfort, refusing fancy add-ons to live on only basic rations and equipment.