Snare the wealth

Elizabeth Hurley and Robert Rinder team up in Channel 4's ruthless new reality show, The Inheritance

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She's played everything from a secret agent in Austin Powers to the Devil in Bedazzled, and now Elizabeth Hurley is taking on her most enigmatic role yet - The Deceased in Channel 4's new reality competition, The Inheritance. But getting her on board took some convincing.

"I didn't really understand it at first," she says. "The graphics on the original deck [visual support to the script] I was sent - my character wasn't glamorous and glorious. She was very old, about 110! They quickly changed the picture."

Produced by Studio Lambert, the powerhouse behind BBC's The Traitors, the show takes 13 strangers, locks them inside a stately home and pits them against each other in challenges to prove themselves worthy of inheriting part of The Deceased's fortune - and it's no easy feat.

Contestants must demonstrate cunning, teamwork and nerve, all while enduring surreal challenges that embody Elizabeth's larger-than-life alter ego.

"They're very right for this lady and her estate," Elizabeth says. "As the show goes on, she comes up with some interesting things."