'Europe became a board game'

Rob Brydon hosts an epic new travel game show

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He's an actor, comedian and presenter - but in Destination X, Rob Brydon takes on a whole new role.

Whisking 13 contestants across Europe on a blacked-out bus, Rob is both guide and gatekeeper in BBC One's new high-stakes game show. “In the first episode, there’s a lot of, ‘We're a team, we're a team,’” Rob says knowingly, “but give it time.”

A hybrid of The Traitors and Race Across The World, this adrenaline-charged format is based on Belgian hit Bestemming X. The game is simple: contestants kick off their journey in Baden-Baden, Germany, where they board a coach with blacked-out windows that only clear for seconds at a time, and goggles to keep them in the dark once outside. They have no idea where they are going but clues are dropped along the way. At every stop the players must guess their location — or risk being booted off the bus. Every decision could cost them the £100k prize.

Rob's role was clear, but he still looked to The Traitors’ Claudia Winkleman for inspiration. “I love her lightness of touch there,” he says. “I didn’t want to get in the way of the show. I wanted to be the bridge between the viewer and the contestants. They are the stars, their personalities really come out over the series.”