Just when reality TV seemed to have exhausted every conceivable format, the BBC’s Destination X comes along to prove there’s still room for genuine innovation — and unplanned nudity, apparently.
The show’s premise sounds deceptively simple: contestants travel Europe in a blacked-out coach, trying to figure out where they are. Add Rob Brydon’s trademark dry wit and a £100,000 prize, and you’ve got something that shouldn’t work nearly as well as it does. Yet here we are, watching what might be 2025’s most addictive new format.
Wednesday’s episode delivered what’s surely destined to become reality TV gold — an impromptu encounter with a group of rather enthusiastic German naturists. The moment, which unfolded as the coach crossed a Munich bridge, sparked exactly the kind of social media frenzy producers dream about. “Dying at the naked people just casually waving #DestinationX,” wrote one viewer, while another suggested — rather sensibly — that perhaps this was the perfect moment to reinstate those blacked-out windows.
But hold on — there’s something more intriguing brewing beneath the surface (clothes-related pun absolutely intended). Sharp-eyed viewers have spotted what looks suspiciously like eliminated contestants Claire, Ashvin, and Chloe-Anne lurking in the background during a Mulhouse challenge. Anyone who watched last season’s The Traitors will recognize this playbook — and honestly, who wouldn’t want to see that kind of twist again?
Speaking of contestants worth watching, Nick Butter isn’t your average reality show participant. The man’s run a marathon in every country in the world (yes, really) and holds 11 world records. His connection to Helen Skelton adds an interesting wrinkle to the proceedings, though the show seems oddly reluctant to make much of it.
The challenges keep ramping up in the most delightfully sadistic ways. Take that second episode stunt — dangling contestants from gondolas 2,000 meters up. One viewer’s capslock-heavy tweet summed it up perfectly: “This is INSANE he’s hanging 2,000ft above air like it’s nothing.” Though honestly, after the naturist encounter, maybe heights aren’t the scariest thing these contestants have faced.
From Paris to the Matterhorn, the show’s managed to turn what could’ve been a glorified geography quiz into something genuinely compelling. It’s the kind of format that makes you wonder how it hadn’t been done before — until you realize just how many moving parts must be involved in keeping contestants genuinely clueless about their location while still creating engaging television.
Rob Brydon deserves special mention here. His hosting style — equal parts quiz master and slightly exasperated tour guide — provides exactly the right tone for a show that could easily have veered into either too serious or too silly territory. He’s particularly brilliant when things go sideways, as they inevitably do when you’re trying to orchestrate complex challenges across multiple European locations.
As we head deeper into the series, Destination X is proving to be that rarest of things in modern television: genuinely unpredictable. Whether that’s by design or happy accident hardly matters anymore — it’s just plain good TV. And in an era where most reality shows feel as carefully choreographed as a West End musical, that’s something worth celebrating.
Just maybe keep your clothes on while you do.
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