A much smarter move is 5’s decision to reboot Faking It. The 25-year-old TV classic virtually invented the factual entertainment genre and remains an irresistible formula.
The reboot begins with Rex, a 27-year-old luxury estate agent from Surrey. With his Hugh Grant floppy hair and public-school manner, Rex is given four weeks to pass himself off as a hard-nosed market-stall trader, exchanging banter with punters in Bolton. “Where is Bolton?” asks Rex’s friend Annie in a scene straight out of Made in Chelsea. “Somewhere up north,” reckons Rex.
Rex isn’t an archetypal southern snob (Photo: Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited/DSP)And Faking It may pivot on social and regional differences, but in a big-hearted, unresentful way. This is escapism, not class warfare. And as long as you don’t take it too seriously, the almost stereotypical extremes make for rich entertainment.
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After a week of 10-hour shifts on Tony’s meat stall, Rex is dispatched to Essex to learn the art of selling from Thomas Skinner – the cheerfully wide contestant from the 2019 series of The Apprentice.
Next, it’s the turn of dialect coach Elspeth Morrison, and Rex’s newly minted northern accent is tested by having him compere a pub quiz in Bolton. “Not once did he sound from Surrey,” says Tony approvingly. “Jamaican, Indian, Pakistani and Geordie, but not once from Surrey.” It’s also decided (thankfully) that the floppy hair had to go. Rex’s barnet gets its first ever encounter with clippers, before fake tattoos are applied to his forearm and neck.
Rex learns the tricks of the trade from former Apprentice candidate Tom Skinner (Photo: Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited/DSP)Sure, the result never really seemed in question, but Faking It is all about the journey and the personalities. Tony seems genuinely pleased to inject a bit of northern into Rex, and Thomas is one of my all-time favourite Apprentice candidates.
‘Faking It’ continues next Tuesday at 9pm on 5.
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