Celebs on the Farm stars Montana Brown, Holly Hagan and Kerry Katona have got down and dirty for the launch of the new MTV series.
The cast, which also includes Blue singer Duncan James, 42, drag queen Cheryl Hole, 27, and socialite Lady Colin Campbell, 71, filmed at a real farm in the Yorkshire Dales, as they swapped red carpet glam for milking cows.
Former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry, 40, admitted living in the countryside helped with her bipolar and she had ‘no down days’ during her two-week stint on the show.
New line-up: Celebs on the Farm stars Montana Brown (pictured), Holly Hagan and Kerry Katona have got down and dirty for the launch of the new MTV series
Kerry said: ‘For me, I have bipolar and the whole two weeks I was on the farm I didn’t have one down day.
‘It was just something very therapeutic about being outdoors. If I get down and I struggle in normal life, the one thing that helps bring me back up again is going outside for a walk and getting fresh air.
‘I’m a perfect country girl. I would never live in the city. I live in East Sussex now because I love the outdoors.’
Former EastEnders actor Shaun Williamson, 55, Hollyoaks star Malique Thompson-Dwyer, 22, Loose Women panellist Linda Robson, 62, and sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, 32, complete the new line-up of farm converts.
‘I’m a perfect country girl’: Former Atomic Kitten star Kerry admitted living in the countryside helped with her bipolar and she had ‘no down days’ during her two-week stint on the show
‘I was really scared’: Geordie Shore star Holly found the series challenging as she’s afraid of animals after not having any pets growing up
Kerry, who’s a mum-of-five, joked taking part in the show, which is judged by Yorkshire farmer Chris Jeffery, was not too dissimilar to running her own household.
She said: ‘Well, I’ve got five kids, I don’t see there’s much difference, really, is there?
‘I thought it’d be like a duck to water, five kids running around leaves you so tired, it’s nothing new to me. It was like going from home to home!’
Filmed last year, strict coronavirus protocols and industry guidelines were adhered to throughout the production of Celebs on the Farm.
Duck to water: Singer Duncan hints he may have gone all the way in the competition, as he’s not afraid of farm life after growing up in Dorset and then moving to Devon
‘I wanted to prove everybody wrong’: Drag queen Cheryl Hole took part to show her critics she’s not just a ‘prim and proper diva’ but says fans will ‘still be getting a big slice of Chezzie’
Geordie Shore star Holly, 28, found the series challenging as she’s afraid of animals after not having any pets growing up.
She said: ‘For me to come on and actually deal with animals that aren’t just your usual little fluffy animals, these are genuine farm animals, and yeah, I was really scared.’
The usually glamorous cast were tasked with early starts, animal handling and manual work that all come with the territory of farming life.
Farmer Chris eliminated the celebs based on their performance in and out of the paddocks, eventually leaving just one top dog Supreme Champion Farmer.
‘I had a tiara but otherwise, I was a farm girl’: Lady C stayed true to form by sneaking a tiara into the farm and despite not liking getting her hands dirty, found the experience ‘pleasurable’
‘It was bitter every day’: Former EastEnders actor Shaun Williamson found the cold weather difficult and said the group had to jump into a pond to muck it out and it was ‘freezing’
And it was all a shock to the system for Holly, who said she didn’t expect to get quite so muddy.
She said: ‘You know what? I think I was quite naive coming into this because I honestly didn’t think we were going to get that muddy.
‘I was like, ‘right, I know it’s a farm guys, but surely, this is bad. This is really muddy, there’s a lot of s*** everywhere on the floor,’ it was so much harder than I actually ever anticipated, it was very challenging.’
Socialite Lady C stayed true to form by sneaking a tiara into the farm and despite not liking getting her hands dirty, found the experience ‘very pleasurable.’
‘My farmer skills are 10/10’: Malique Thompson-Dwyer, who’s also appeared on I’m A Celeb and Celebs Go Dating, said he cleaned out pig sties, built chicken dens and milked cows
‘I’m a city girl’: Loose Women panellist Linda Robson is also part of the line-up but said her only experience in the countryside is taking her grandchildren to the zoo
She said: ‘Although I’ve lived on estates for well over two decades, I’m not at all outdoorsy.
‘I’m very much an indoor sort of girl. But I am familiar with what goes on at working farms and estates and I love country life and country living.
‘But that doesn’t mean I’ve been exposed to doing it myself because I haven’t. But doing it myself, I realised how pleasurable it is. It’s hard work, but it’s really very pleasurable.’
Singer Duncan hints he may have gone all the way in the competition, as he’s not afraid of farm life after growing up in Dorset and then moving to Devon.
‘First experience of reality TV’: Harry Aikines-Aryeetey said his skills as an Olympian and ‘competitive spirit’ are the reasons he signed up for the MTV show
He said: ‘Nothing fazes me about farming and I just thought I’m just going to get stuck into it. There was nothing I was particularly worried about.
‘My mum loved animals so we had chickens, ducks, two Pygmy goats. We had 10 cats, dogs, we had four parrots, and we had all these animals around me ever since I was little, really.
‘So I’ve always loved being around animals, and when I got asked to go on the farm I thought it was a great opportunity to get out and go back to my roots.’
- Celebs on the Farm coming next month to MTV UK
Ready to go: Filmed last year, strict coronavirus protocols and industry guidelines were adhered to throughout the production of Celebs on the Farm