This is much more than a celebrity travelogue – it’s the tale of a charming and genuine friendship. These two are a ray of hope in an age of toxic masculinity
At first it seems as if Anton and Giovanni’s Adventures in Sicily is going to be very much more of the same thing we have seen too many times before. Two celebrities pretend to be mates and swan off on a jolly somewhere sunny, justifying the effort and their fee by flinging a few factoids about the history and culture of La Isla Foreigna at us as they eat, drink, boat-ride and five-star hotel their way around the place.
Strictly Come Dancing stars Anton Du Beke and Giovanni Pernice are taking a three-episode road trip around Pernice’s native Sicily. Things begin tiresomely with a confected set piece about Pernice having to carry all Anton “The Celebrity’s” luggage and Du Beke’s agonising efforts to order a coffee in Italian. You distract yourself from the formulaic boredom by wondering who it is Du Beke reminds you of. He is, you eventually work out, four parts Bruce Forsyth (at one point he even says “Didn’t she do well?”), one part Michael Barrymore (before, you know, Everything) and a small amount of Rob Brydon.
