\u201cThere is a snob factor probably from some people. That\u2019s entirely up to them. <\/span>I don\u2019t really care what people think. If I think it\u2019s good, then that\u2019s good enough for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kemp is the host of new BBC One daytime quiz Bridge of Lies, which sees teams looking to win a cash prize by navigating their way across a \u2018bridge\u2019 by stepping only on the correct answers. Example: if the theme of the round is \u201cDisney films\u201d and they step on \u201cThe Lion King\u201d, they\u2019re safe, but if they step on \u201cHow To Train Your Dragon\u201d (produced by DreamWorks), they\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n The treatment for the show \u201cjust lifted off the page\u201d according to Kemp \u2013 and he also had a pre-existing relationship with producers STV from ITV\u2019s 2017 documentary Ross Kemp Behind Bars: Inside Barlinnie.\u00a0<\/span>On top of that though, the challenge of doing something radically different appealed to him. <\/span>\u201cI knew there\u2019d be people saying, \u2018Ross Kemp can only do documentaries\u2019, or \u2018he can only be Grant Mitchell\u2019 \u2013 so it\u2019s a little challenge to Kemp, in his dotage, to see if he can do this.\u201d<\/span><\/p> Kemp says he \u201cworked hard\u201d to perfect an on-screen persona that would work for Bridge of Lies. \u201cI observed a lot of the people who I think are very good at [hosting game shows] and trust me, it isn\u2019t as easy a gig as people might like to think. I\u2019ve got a newfound respect for these presenters, because the dynamic can often change very quickly and you\u2019ve got to adapt to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He lists The Chase host Bradley Walsh, Pointless presenter Alexander Armstrong and Tipping Point\u2019s Ben Shephard as his inspirations. \u201cI don\u2019t know them very well but I\u2019ve spent a bit of time with each of those three people and they are individuals in their own right and they bring their personality to that particular game show and I think, in terms of my physicality, I am the right person for Bridge of Lies.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t take anything from anyone else, because if you start doing that, you\u2019re just trying to replicate something else. You\u2019ve got to be organic and true to the self.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Having transitioned in his career from actor to BAFTA-winning filmmaker, Kemp is used to taking a leap into the unknown, but admits that this latest career switch-up proved more challenging than he first expected. \u201cHaving been around the world a bit, I\u2019ve been in more jeopardous situations than crossing a bridge in a studio, but I get wrapped up in it very quickly, particularly if\u2026 and I honestly mean this, there wasn\u2019t one group that I did not like.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like talking to a complete stranger \u2013 everyone seemed very relaxed with me and consequently I was very relaxed with them, and I think that comes through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Resisting the urge to help his quizzers, particularly when they made obvious missteps, proved difficult. \u201cIt was so hard, because it\u2019s not a format that I\u2019m used to. I can only say, \u2018Think about it, take your time\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n On a practical level, working on a busy studio floor and communicating with the show\u2019s production team via an earpiece was another new experience. \u201cI wasn\u2019t used to people yabbering in my ear, telling me what to do. I\u2019m used to being on my own in a very small outfit. It wasn\u2019t like that obviously at EastEnders<\/a> \u2013 there were lots of people telling me what to do and then I went off and did exactly what I wanted to do most of the time\u2026 within the lines given!<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo it was a totally different format, a totally different way of working.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The game itself is also more involved than you might expect, according to Kemp. \u201cIt does appear very simple on the page, but the complexities of how you play it and the strategy involved in it is a bit more complex than just hoping you\u2019re going to step lucky.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSome of the developers and the people who worked on it at STV, we would play it, it\u2019s such a good game. I would host it and they would play it and you\u2019d watch\u2026 there was a lot of cockiness before a fall, mate. It\u2019s a humbling game.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kemp himself believes he\u2019d fare quite well if he took on the Bridge of Lies, which he credits to the wisdom that comes with age. \u201cThe 25-year-old Ross Kemp would play Bridge of Lies very differently to the 50-year-old Ross Kemp, because the 25-year-old Ross Kemp would be very cocky, he\u2019d think he\u2019d know everything\u2026 and then he\u2019d get halfway across and he\u2019d be out of the game, whereas the 50-year-old Ross Kemp would take his time a bit more, be a bit more strategic and just concentrate on getting across, with however much money I could amass. So that\u2019s sort of the Ross Kemp philosophy of Bridge of Lies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The final product is, he suggests, \u201centertaining TV on lots of different levels\u201d, combining a quiz with the physical element of crossing the bridge as well as a \u201csort of Gogglebox social interaction of families and colleagues\u201d \u2013 with teams of four taking on the game one at a time, the remaining team members remain locked away in a green room, observing their teammates and commenting on their decisions but unable to advise or interfere.<\/p>\n Kemp hopes that more of these interactions to make it to the screen in future if Bridge of Lies runs to a second season, explaining that a number of fun moments shared between teammates ended up on the cutting room floor. \u201cIt\u2019s about getting a format over to an audience. There was so much stuff that hit the floor because of getting the format across that was hilarious, and very revealing. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018Oh, why didn\u2019t we have this moment?\u2019 and they said, \u2018Because we\u2019re trying to make sure people understand what the game\u2019s about, Ross\u2019 \u2013 and that is quite important!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Before a potential second series of Bridge of Lies though, Kemp is back on more familiar ground with a new documentary project \u2013 Sky History\u2019s Ross Kemp: Shipwreck Treasure Hunter will air next month and sees him dive in hazardous environments to discover secrets that lie beneath the sea and uncover hidden treasures and history from Britain\u2019s past. \u201cIt\u2019s a totally different kettle of fish,\u201d he says. \u201cMy year couldn\u2019t have been more diverse.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Though he\u2019s accompanied by experts on his dives, Kemp had to train for months to qualify as an advance rescue diver for the documentary, which he says is being eyed as a possible returning series.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were some hairy moments,\u201d he revealed. \u201cWe dived at one point in a force eight [wind]. <\/span>It was a real experience.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was jeopardous in places \u2013 it really was, properly. But it was also incredibly rewarding as well. <\/span>I got it \u2013 I got what treasure hunters get from it, spending their afternoons with a metal detector, because there is an incredible sense of being directly in touch with the past in a way that I\u2019ve never felt in a museum.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Uncovering lost history can be exciting, but also sobering, with Kemp noting that Shipwreck Treasure Hunter won\u2019t shy away from the darker side of British history \u2013 one discovery, for example, sees the team uncover anti-personnel guns \u201cmade specifically to spray shot against a mutinous crew of enslaved human beings\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHawkins [John Hawkins, 16th century naval commander] was one of the richest men in the world at the time, on a Bill Gates kind of scale, and made the majority of his fortune from the transportation of enslaved people \u2013 that\u2019s not something that you find when you pick up your history books,\u201d he says. \u201cParticularly at secondary level. And it\u2019s really important that we should talk about our history and not avoid the bits that we find uncomfortable, because they\u2019re factual.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s a very different project to a game show, though not without its own technical hurdles to overcome.\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s a new skill \u2013 doing pieces to camera underwater! Even when there\u2019s bullets whizzing around, I can sort of do that, but it was totally different to anything that I\u2019d done before. But here I am \u2013 old dog, new tricks!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Bridge<\/span>\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0Lies<\/span> begins on Monday, 14th March at 4:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer, and continues daily. Visit our Entertainment<\/a> hub for more news, interviews and features, and find something to watch now with our TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Morgan Jeffery Published: Saturday, 12 March 2022 at 12:00 am Ross Kemp knows you don\u2019t expect him to be hosting a game show. It\u2019s not something he particularly expected to be doing either. \u201cI probably wouldn\u2019t have considered it five, six years ago,\u201d he admits. \u201cBut the landscape has completely changed in terms of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":12123,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/ross-kemp-on-turning-game-show-host-with-bridge-of-lies-old-dog-new-tricks.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/ross-kemp-on-turning-game-show-host-with-bridge-of-lies-old-dog-new-tricks-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/ross-kemp-on-turning-game-show-host-with-bridge-of-lies-old-dog-new-tricks-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/ross-kemp-on-turning-game-show-host-with-bridge-of-lies-old-dog-new-tricks.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/ross-kemp-on-turning-game-show-host-with-bridge-of-lies-old-dog-new-tricks.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/ross-kemp-on-turning-game-show-host-with-bridge-of-lies-old-dog-new-tricks.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/ross-kemp-on-turning-game-show-host-with-bridge-of-lies-old-dog-new-tricks.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Morgan Jeffery Published: Saturday, 12 March 2022 at 12:00 am Ross Kemp knows you don\u2019t expect him to be hosting a game show. It\u2019s not something he particularly expected to be doing either. \u201cI probably wouldn\u2019t have considered it five, six years ago,\u201d he admits. \u201cBut the landscape has completely changed in terms of…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/12122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Ross\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/ross-kemp-bridge-of-lies-52a4384.jpeg?quality=90&crop=31px%2C0px%2C1943px%2C1294px&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Ross\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Ross\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/bridge-of-lies-b0d3f17.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Bridge\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Ross\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/ross-kemp-shipwreck-treasure-hunters-66b51c9.jpg?quality=90&crop=139px%2C0px%2C1621px%2C1080px&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Ross\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Loved this Big RT Interview<\/a>? Read these next:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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