Tempting Fortune

Last updated

Tempting Fortune
Genre Reality
Presented by Paddy McGuinness
Theme music composer Ian Livingstone
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes14
Production
Executive producers
  • Jon Crisp
  • Sanjay Singhal
  • Melanie Darlaston
Production locations
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesVoltage TV and GroupM Motion Entertainment
Original release
Network Channel 4 (UK)
The Roku Channel (2023)
Release26 March 2023 (2023-03-26) 
present

Tempting Fortune is a British reality competition television series where a group of people try to win the biggest cash prize they can by avoiding temptations to spend money from the prize fund. [1]

Contents

The show is hosted by Paddy McGuinness. The first series was filmed in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa during 2022, and premiered on Channel 4 on 26 March 2023. [2] It was commissioned, as a co-production, in partnership with streaming platform Roku and was released by its programming brand Roku Originals. [3] The show was renewed by Channel 4 in April 2024 but Roku was no longer a partner. [4] The second series, set in Langkawi, Malaysia, began airing on 16 March 2025. [5]

Format

Tempting Fortune is a show where 12 strangers hope to win a share of a prize pot of £300,000. They are left in a remote location where they embark on a gruelling trek to reach their destination. All the participants are provided with only the basic survival gear and they have to spend many days without any creature comfort. Along the way they are tested with temptations, such as good food, luxurious accommodation, various home comfort or opportunity to skip a difficult part of the trek to see if they have the willpower to resist spending their money on these luxuries. Every temptation chosen by the participants will be subtracted from the final prize pool. The more they spend and the less money they will win at the end. [6]

Series overview

SeriesEpisodesPremiereFinale
1630 March 202310 April 2023
2816 March 20257 April 2025

Series 1 (2023)

Contestants

Name [7] AgeOccupationTemptation spendingWinnings
Ashton28Event singer£600£22,008
Carolynn65Retired Trauma Nurse£4,283.33£20,608
Charlie25Fish and Chip Shop Worker£1,600£21,008
Dan31Social Worker£7,083.33£19,608
Dee44Event Caterer£7,983.33£19,608
Jack22Content Creator£5,516.66£20,475
James50Ex-professional Basketball Player£3,000£22,608
Lani33Graphic Designer£7,016.66£20,475
Luke39Meditation Coach£0£22,608
Michelle37Works in Sales£6,183.33£20,508
Tahira39Field Organiser£0£22,608
Trelwey-Precious22Social Media Influencer£2,433.33£20,175

Temptations

TemptationCostTempted contestantsTotal spentNotes
Easy route to next camp£3,000 per personNone£0
Winnebago for the night£8,000 per personNone£0This is available every night and was never used
Coffee£200 per drinkNone£0
Diner serving fast foodVarious pricesLani£500One milkshake
Luxury Safari Lodge Getaway£4,000 for 2 peopleNone£0
Shortcut to next camp£4,000 per personNone£0
Canoes instead of rafts£4,000 for the whole groupNone£0
Hot Chocolate£400 per drinkLani£400This was a temptation done in private. Lani only drinks half the drink.
Luxury Spa£1,000 or £1,500 per person depending on packageDan, Jack, Lani, and Michelle.£4,500Lani opted for the 'indulgence' package costing £1,500.
Vending machineVarious pricesDan and Jack£400This was a temptation done in private as a pair and not given to any other contestants. They bought a bar of chocolate and shared it with everyone else.
EquipmentVarious pricesDee£2,000Dee needed new walking boots as she had misshapen them after leaving them too close to the fire. This wasn't a temptation per se.
Home Comforts package£1,500 per personNone£0It included food and drinks, a mock living room with a chance to watch TV for the evening.
The teams are now split in two, those that have spent in one team, those that haven't in another
AlcoholVarious pricesCarolyn, Dan, Dee, Jack, and Michelle£800Carolynn, Dan, Jack, and Michelle shared a bottle of wine (£400 in total) and Dee had 2 beers (£400)
Phone call home£100 per minuteDan (7 minutes) and Dee (3 minutes)£1,000This temptation was done in private
Coffee and pastry£200 for a coffee with a pastryCarolynn and Lani£200Carolynn had the coffee and Lani had the pastry
A party£3,500 per groupCarolynn, Dan, Dee, Jack, Lani, and Michelle£3,500Included food, drink, and a silent disco
Glamping Hotel£3,000 per double bedCarolynn, Dan, Dee, Jack, James, Lani, and Michelle£12,000Included food and drinks and breakfast the next morning. James stole some teabags despite not taking the full temptation but was charged as if he had.
Two groups are reunited as one team again
Donuts£200 per donutNone£0
Bag taken directly to next camp£500 per personMichelle£500
Cocktail Bar£300 for a cocktail, £200 for any other drinkDee, Lani, Michelle£900Dee had wine, Lani had a cocktail and Michelle had 2 wines
Spending is now taken from your own personal funds left rather than the whole group
Safari£1,500 per personCarolynn, Dan, and Dee£4,500
Cocktail Bar£300 for a cocktail, £200 for any other drinkAshton, Charlie, Jack, Lani, Michelle, Trelwey-Precious£3,900
Bubble Bath and a car ride halfway through trek£100 per bathJack, Lani and Trelwey-Precious£100Shared the bath
Last supper£1,000 per personCharlie, Dan, Dee, Jack, Lani, Michelle, Trelwey-Precious£7,000A slap up meal and unlimited drinks
Shortcut to the finish line£500 per personCarolynn, Dan, Dee, Jack, Lani, Michelle, Trelwey-Precious£3,500A car taking them directly to the finish line instead of trekking

Together the contestants spent £26,700 on temptations shown. However, the show jumps the amount between temptations and has the total spent as £28,700.

Series 2 (2025)

Contestants

NameAgeOccupationTemptations and spendingsWinnings
David38Vicar£3,975 and £14,000 banked£28,835
Henry23Amateur Footballer£1,750 and £4,000 banked£18,835
Hugo20University Student£1,500*£14,835
Imani32Fashion Blogger£9,250 and £1,750 banked£14,835
Martha24Yacht Stewardess£4,050 and £4,000 banked£18,835
Nathaniel29Personal trainer£12,925 and £10,000 banked£24,838
Sam40Ex restaurant owner£3,075 and £4,000 banked£18,835
Ted58Retired Prison Officer£25,000 cost to fly home£0
Thom33Hospitality Sales Manager£2,850 and £4,000 banked£18,835
Tomasz39Firefighter£7,300£14,835
Trish59Paramedic£4,425£14,835
Vicky38Greeting Cards Business owner£4,425 and £30,000 to fly home£0
  • Hugo technically never chose to spend any money, this was a temptation where if enough people chose to do it (6 out of 10) it was offered to everyone. Hugo did not take the offer of the temptation despite it being paid for.

Temptations

TemptationCostTempted contestantsTotal spentNotes
Glamping beds£1,200 per double bedImani£1,200Only started using it at 2am
Air conditioning cubicle£200 per minuteImani£1,000
Taxi to next campsite£1,500 per personTrish and Vicky£3,000
Pool Club£2,000 per personImani and Tomasz£4,000
Flight home£25,000Ted£25,000Ted left on medical grounds so didn't have the additional £5,000 taken from the prize fund.
Glamping£750 per personVicky£750The team was split into small groups for this task and offered it in smaller groups
Taxi to next camp£1,000 per personImani and Vicky£2,000
The Nag's Head PubVarious pricesImani, Tomasz, and Vicky£1,400Imani had a Fanta, Tomasz had a pint of Guinness, Vicky had a portion of cheesey chips.
Home comforts£300David, Imani and Tomasz£900David had a packet of Haribo, Imani had a haircare kit and Tomasz had a donut. The temptation was done in secret without other teams members knowing of it was taken or not.
Hotel£2,000 per double bedMartha and Tomasz£2,000They shared a bed
Flight home£25,000 + £5,000Vicky£30,000
Coffee Shop£250 for a coffee and pastry for two peopleDavid, Nathaniel, Sam and Trish£500Sam gave her pastry to Trish
Chinese Buffet£4,500 per groupImani, Martha, Nathaniel, Thom and Trish£4,5003 or more members had to say yes to have it. They are split in two groups at this point.
The RetreatBlind auction bidNathaniel£10,000The next highest bid was only £3,698. There was an option to take a second person which wasn't used.
Pick n MixVarious pricesNone£0Only temptation the group turned down
ATMVarious prices + £250 transaction feeDavid, Henry, Imani, Martha, Sam and Thom£23,000Of those tempted everyone chose to take £4,000 except Imani who opted for £1,500.
Disco£400 per personDavid, Imani, Martha, Nathaniel, Tomasz and Trish£2,400
Video call home£100 per minuteDavid, Imani, Sam, Thom and Tomasz£3,000
The SpaVarious pricesDavid and Tomasz£2,000Both spent £1,000 each.
Super Yacht£10,000 for 5 people or £15,000 for 10 peopleAll£15,000Trish, Tomasz, Imani, Martha, David, Nathaniel all wanted to do it, unlocking the temptation for everyone. Hugo and Henry decide not to take temptation even though they technically paid for it.
£20,000 cash in a rucksack£20,000David and Nathaniel£20,000In pairs, couples went and could open the bag and take £20,000 between them or reject it. If everyone rejects the bag the funds stayed with the group as a whole. No other pair even looked in the bag.

Together the contestants spent £60,150 on temptations shown. The contestants took £41,500 from the prize fund and banked it for themselves.

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2024 Venice TV Awards Reality TVWon [8]
2023TBI Content Innovation AwardsReality Show of the YearWon [9]
Rose d’Or Awards Competition RealityNominated [10]
C21 International Format AwardsBest Competition Reality FormatNominated [11]

International versions

Color key
CountryLocal nameNetworkPresenterWinnersOriginally aired
Greece [12] Tempting Fortune Greece Skai TV Yannis Tsimitselis  [ el ]Series 1 (2024): Roula17 September 2024
Italy [13] [14] Money Road – Ogni tentazione ha un prezzo Sky Uno, TV8 Fabio Caressa Series 1 (2025): Upcoming series29 May 2025
Mexico [15] TBA TV Azteca TBA
Romania [16] Tempting Fortune România Kanal D Zoli Tóth  [ ro ]Series 1 (2025): Gabriel Muntianu11 May 2025
United Kingdom
(original format)
Tempting Fortune Channel 4 Paddy McGuinnessSeries 1 (2023): James
Series 2 (2025): David
26 March 2023

See also

References

  1. Venn, Lydia (March 6, 2025). "Tempting Fortune season 2: Cast, release date and everything else to know". Cosmopolitan.
  2. Henry, Grace (March 26, 2023). "Tempting Fortune cast: Meet the 12 contestants in Paddy McGuinness's Channel 4 show". Radio Times.
  3. Goldbart, Max (May 17, 2022). "Roku Originals & Channel 4 Partner For First Time On 'Tempting Fortune'; C4 Also Orders 'Apprentice'-style Politics Competition" . Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  4. Goldbart, Max (April 23, 2024). "Channel 4 Makes Final Greenlight Decision On Two Of Its Biggest Entertainment Launches Of 2023". Deadline.
  5. Mensah, Katelyn (March 16, 2025). "Paddy McGuinness on Tempting Fortune: "It took me back to doing Top Gear"". Radio Times.
  6. Chase, Stephanie (March 24, 2023). "Top Gear's Paddy McGuinness teases "unbelievable" contestant in new show". Digital Spy.
  7. updated, Elaine Reilly last (April 1, 2023). "Tempting Fortune season 1: release date, contestants, locations and an exclusive interview with Paddy McGuinness". whattowatch.com. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  8. "Winners Announced for the 2024 Venice TV Award". lbbonline.com. September 24, 2024. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  9. "TBI Weekly: Content Innovation Awards 2023 shortlist revealed". www.somosproductions.com. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  10. "Winners of 62nd Rose d'Or awards announced". Rose d'Or. November 28, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  11. "International Format Awards 2023: winners". tvtonight.com.au. October 17, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  12. "Tempting Fortune". Skai.
  13. "Sky lancia Money Road – Ogni tentazione ha un prezzo: il nuovo show con Fabio Caressa". Digital News (in Italian).
  14. "Money Road, il nuovo strategy game di Sky condotto da Fabio Caressa". Sky TG24 (in Italian). March 14, 2025.
  15. McHugh, Marian (March 27, 2025). "Tempting Fortune lures in European buyers". Broadcast. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  16. Tilă, Diana (March 25, 2025). ""Tempting Fortune România", singura competiție televizată în care adversarii luptă umăr la umăr pentru o miză comună uriașă – 300.000 de Euro. Show-ul care pune voința la încercare, în curând, la Kanal D!". Kanal D Romania (in Romanian). Retrieved March 27, 2025.