HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS: Tuesday 10th May, ITV1, 9pm
What happens when homeless people move into celebrities’ homes? Not some hillarious slapstick hijinks, but a thought-provoking ITV documentary, and Alex James acting like an arse.
To highlight the problem of homelessness to the public, or to celebrities, or maybe just for our entertainment; ITV’s Home is Where the Heart Is sees four homeless people move in with some C-Listers, and the celebrities try to help them and mentor them, mainly by making them do lots of hard work and take an introspective look at how their life turned out the way it did.
The four celebrities acting as hosts are: chef Aldo Zilli, Blur bassist Alex James, interior design duo Colin and Justin and (former) TV presenter Anneka Rice. Each have different methods in which to treat their homeless house guests.
Italian chef Aldo Zilli discovers that Bobby, who he is mentoring, has some cooking experience, so using Aldo’s restaurant kitchen Bobby cooks him anything he wants. Aldo tries to get the best out of Bobby’s potential by spitting his offering into the bin and putting him on carrot peeling duties.
Bridget is being mentored by star of Challenge Anneka, Anneka Rice who challenges herself to hug Bridget as many times as possible. Anneka then gets her involved in care work with elderly people, who seems like the only celebrity that seems to have a grasp on the idea of the project.
Design couple Colin and Justin are apprehensive about letting someone into their perfectly designed home, when alcoholic Jim turns up. Instead of making any practical measures to turning Jim’s life around, instead they take him up for a helicopter ride. Unless Jim is going to turn himself around by becoming a helicopter pilot, this is useless.
Blur bassist Alex James has to help 18-year old Danny and thinks the best way to treat young Danny is with tough love. He immediately sets him to work on his farm and shouts at him for standing around. When the social worker reveals to Alex an alarming development, Alex thinks the social worker needs some tough love, and tells him to clear off.
It’s hard to tell the intentions of the celebrities taking part in Home is Where the Heart Is, whether it’s to raise their profile or to genuinely help them. For Alex James it seems like he’s just after another reason to be pissed off, while for Anneka Rice it would seem that she needs something to relentlessly hug.
