The Fortune Hotel series 2 line-up includes ex-police officer and poker player
The Fortune Hotel is opening its doors for a second series, with holidaymakers checking into the resort in the Caribbean.
From a retired police officer to a poker player, ITV casts people of all ages who are from different parts of the country and coming from a variety of backgrounds. There are partners, best friends, parents and children, many different combinations of people competing for the prize money.
Not unlike BBC's The Traitors, The Fortune Hotel has been a success and will return to the rival channel over the summer. "You can't trust anyone at The Fortune Hotel" is the seductive tagline for the TV show.
Stephen Mangan fronts the reality series that has the glamorous backdrop of a five-star resort in the Caribbean, Silversands Grenada at Grand Anse. Host Mangan revealed his top three celebrity guest choices would be Alan Carr, George Washington and Muhammad Ali.
Mother and son duo Jo-Anne and Will were the winners of the cash last series. They chose to give the runners up £5,000 commiserations money!
Contestants are competing for an envy-inducing £250,000 prize fund. The cast have been kept a secret in the lead up to the show airing, until now. The Fortune Hotel was filmed in secret at the end of last year, in October/November.
The Fortune Hotel line-up
Marilyn and Maxine
Jobs: Mental health practitioner and Tech Strategist
Ages: 46 and 41
Marilyn and Maxine headed into The Fortune Hotel as best friends. They are better known as Maz and Max.
Summing herself up in a few words, Maz said: "I'm a deep thinker, I can be sassy but I'm loyal!"
Max said of herself: "I'm definitely an adventurous girly in every sense of life! Since COVID I try to never say no to anything so I've been travelling - I'm 34 countries down now and cracking on! I'm also really compassionate, I always try to be there for all the people be there for all the people I love."
Chelsey and Briony
Jobs: Cleaning business owners/ content creators
Ages 34 and 33
Chelsey and Briony, from Wigan, are also best friends who took on the extraordinary challenge.
"We felt like we were having an early mid-life crisis, we were working and being mums so we wanted an adventure and something different," Chelsey said.
Briony also said: "I watched the first series and absolutely loved it! We wanted to enter it as it's an adventure with your best friend in a lovely sunny destination. Yes please!"
Watch The Fortune Hotel series 2 trailer
Atholl and John
Jobs: Retired police officer and waiter
Ages: 58 and 30
As a retired police officer, the dad plans to hunt down the brief case with the £250,000 with his son. They travelled a long way to the Caribbean from the Scottish borders; the father and son think they have the skills to go far in the competition.
Atholl said: "A lot of people are drawn to me, I'm quite a friendly person. My dad can deal with who the liars are as he's a retired police officer so has done a lot with body language. Even when I was growing up, I could never lie! From being his son, I'm a great judge of character. If I have an inkling on something, I'm never normally wrong. I also remember details well, my memory is really good."
John said: "It's the ability to listen to people and gather information. Body language does tell you a lot."
Jake and Mike
Jobs: Construction Worker and Energy Surveyor
Ages: 29 and 33
Like Chelsey and Briony they too are from Wigan. However, they were the only brothers in the competition. The siblings joked they would love to spend the £250k winnings on Las Vegas.
More seriously though, they reveal why they took part. Mike said: "We didn't watch the first series but as soon as I saw there was a holiday in the Caribbean and quarter of a million pounds to be won, I was like let's do it! It was a no brainer."
Jake agreed: "A holiday in the Caribbean, who wouldn't?"
Allan and Jacob
Jobs: Events and aviation staffer / cabin crew
Ages: 38 and 33
The couple, from Aberdeen and Huddersfield, have already gone through a major life change since filming last year; they have moved to London. They have been together 10 years and hinted if they won the £250k, perhaps it's time they got married.
Allan said: "The [Fortune Hotel is the] most memorable thing we've done in our lives! To be chucked out of a plane, on to a boat with 20 other strangers all trying to fight for a suitcase, was just the most bizarre thing that we've ever done. To do it as a couple, it was the most remarkable thing we've done together!"
Jacob agreed: "It was just amazing, everyone was so nice, we had the best time. It just took over our lives, leading up to it and filming it, it was incredible."
Gurks and Guv
Jobs: Commercial Manager/ Poker Player and Energy Salesman
Ages: 28 and 35
Despite the seven year age gap, Gurks and Guv are good friends. One of them working as a poker player was always going to come in handy.
Guv said: "We both have telepathy with one another, we just give each other a look. We know [who to trust and who to be wary of]!"
Gurks added: "It's all about asking people a question and seeing how they respond, you can see what's genuine and who was playing a game."
James and Yasmine
Jobs: Teaching assistant and carpet fitter
Ages: 45 and 23
The dad and daughter from Huddersfield competed on the ITV show. As a teaching assistant and a carpet fitter, they brought their individual skills to the game.
James and Yasmine revealed the heartwarming reason they decided to take part in the show.
The dad said: "To experience something I'd never do in my everyday life. My son, James got diagnosed when he was 19 with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and we wanted to give something like this a go. When I got through he told me: "Do it, just do it! What an amazing zin thing."James is in remission and was going back to uni so Yasmine came. She wasn't complaining when she was on the beach with a cocktail!
Yasmine agreed: "We wanted to show people after you hear the word cancer, life can carry on."
Nella and Tope
Jobs: Senior Financial Accountant and Finance Business Partner
Ages: 31 and 34
The couple immersed themselves in The Fortune Hotel game. Both having jobs in finance, it's expected they'll have a similar method.
In a fairly new relationship, they don't mind admitting the show could have been make or break for them.
Nella said: "It would've been make or break for us in our relationship! We'd only been together for two and a half years when we applied for the show. If we didn't work well together it could have been make or break! But luckily enough for us, the show made our relationship stronger. I was like wow-he's wow- he's actually right sometimes!"
Tope hailed the experience as "mesmerising, enlightening and adventurous".
Sue and Jeremy
Jobs: Tech broker and Residential Property Management
Ages: 59 and 23
Last year's winners were a mother and son duo. This year, Sue and Jeremy were the only mother and son in the competition and they were convinced they could win.
Jeremy said: "I'm very driven, competitive and I'm quite a strategic person. I like to think I'm quite convincing and deceiving."
Sue said: "I think I'm very good at reading people, but it was more difficult and complicated than anyone will ever realise. It tested my brain power, it really did! When you're there everyone is playing a game!"
Fred and Min
Jobs: Retired
Ages: 60 and 59
Life partners Fred and Min, from Blackpool, decided to try out something different with The Fortune Hotel. Of course, with £250k up for grabs, they said they were in it to win it.
"No amount of money could buy that experience," Min added. "It was just amazing."
Fred said: "[The Fortune Hotel] Probably was the best experience we've had to date. Can we go again please?"
The life partners had a plan. "Bluff them, blag them and fake it til you make it! It was our last hurrah!" Fred said.
Martina and Briony
Jobs: Office Manager and Declutter
Ages: 68 and 32
Mother and daughter duo Martina and Briony from Brighton, were determined to win the £250,000 brief case.
Martina said: "At my age, people would think you couldn't do something like this, I wanted to prove them wrong. Briony rang me and said do you fancy going to the Caribbean for a holiday? holiday? And I said yes!"
Briony doesn't shy away from admitting she wanted to win to use the money for fertility treatment and a new car too.
Is Fortune Hotel like The Traitors? How does it work?
Like The Traitors, The Fortune Hotel is a cat and mouse game that is based on deception and lies. Set at a luxury resort, The Fortune Hotel's pairs are given a briefcase. The contents are entirely secret, except to those in possession of the case. All of the briefcases are empty except two: one containing the £250,000 jackpot and the other containing an early check out card.
They swap cases in a bid to steal the prize money and swerve the check out early card. One pair always ends up going home, until we have the winners.
Some curveballs are in store for the contestants taking part in the second series, as ITV has confirmed that it will feature "new vital Day Trip challenges filled with devious surprises, updated Room Service games that now take place around the hotel and sneaky surprises that will make keeping hold of that coveted case containing the £250,000 even harder".
Host Mangan said: "I am absolutely thrilled to have returned to the sunshine to check in a new set of unsuspecting guests to The Fortune Hotel. The stakes are higher, the games are bigger, and the twists are even more unexpected. I can't wait for viewers to witness all the drama, the laughter, and jeopardy of the high-stakes competition this time around. It's going to be quite the ride!"
Is The Fortune Hotel a real hotel?
And yes, the reality series is filmed at a real hotel in the Caribbean.
Silversands Grenada at Grand Anse is the stage for The Fortune Hotel. It is a gorgeous beach hotel on one of the Caribbean's most southern islands.
Of filming there, Mangan previously said: "We took over the entire resort and I got to have a very nice suite without having to pay for it. The presidential suite, which was bigger than my house, it took me four minutes to walk from one side of the living room to the other, it was that big.
"I had a balcony that looked over the ocean which was west facing so every night we got a view of the sunset and sunsets in the Caribbean are incredible."
The Fortune Hotel is set to return to ITVX over the summer.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
32 minutes ago
- New York Times
Filming Welcome to Wrexham: ‘Parkinson and the players have had to trust us'
As Wrexham embark on a first season at Championship level in 43 years, a familiar dressing-room face will be missing. Patrick McGarvey, co-executive producer on Welcome to Wrexham, is moving on after three years helping to uncover the stories and characters that have turned the documentary chronicling Wrexham's historic promotions into a global hit. Advertisement He leaves with a wealth of memories to go with the eight Primetime Emmy awards that the show has already garnered for co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. 'The last three years have been so special,' the 46-year-old Irishman tells The Athletic. 'I've made friends for life since coming to Wrexham and I've shared in so many great moments. 'Obviously, the three promotions stand out. The open-top bus tour (that followed winning the National League title in 2023) is something I'll never forget until the day I die. 'I was on the bus with the women's team that crazy, crazy evening, plus Rob and Ryan. Seeing the colour in the town and the happiness on people's faces was amazing. 'I've also got a photo I love, taken from behind Phil (Parkinson, manager) and Steve (Parkin, assistant) after the first promotion: looking out over the fans as they invade the pitch, with both Phil and Steve taking it all in. 'I look at that picture from time to time as it brings home the privileged position this job has put me in — to see what it all means, not just to them but their families and an entire community.' When the call first came in 2022 about joining the Welcome to Wrexham team, McGarvey was already an experienced sports producer who had covered everything from three World Cups to a European Championship and several Olympic Games for a variety of channels, including the BBC and ITV, and RTE in his native Ireland. The first series, charting the opening months of the new Hollywood owners and culminating in losing to Grimsby Town in the play-offs, had already been shot but was still to air on either side of the Atlantic. It meant that the global whirlwind that has so transformed this previously provincial club had yet to gather pace. 'I didn't know a huge amount about the project at the time,' McGarvey admits. 'Probably been to the (Racecourse) ground a couple of times, when previously working for ITV. Advertisement 'I'd also been to Wrexham for a few cycling events and had friends from university (in Manchester) who lived in north Wales, so I knew the area. Anyway, we had a conversation over the phone and then I came down for a couple of days, just to meet people and for them to see what I was like. 'You've got to be the right fit for a football club.' McGarvey has certainly proved to be that since first joining the documentary team in September 2022. Initially, he worked for a year alongside Milos Balac, the show's first co-executive producer on the ground in Wrexham. Then, after Balac returned to his native New York, McGarvey stepped up from his role as supervising producer to spend the last two years leading a small but dedicated team in the UK featuring Claire Sarsfield, Matt Hopwood and Gareth Roberts. 'Wrexham is a very different club today to back when I first started,' he says. 'But what hasn't changed is what makes the show such a success: great storytelling. Rob always says to the crew: 'Everyone has a story to tell. What is that story and how best do we get it on camera?'. That's the key.' After more than two decades in the business, McGarvey recognises what makes for great TV. So, when filming co-chairman McElhenney's now-famous motivational speech to the Wrexham squad during last season's run-in, the County Tyrone-born freelance producer knew straight away what the show had. 'We were in the Bamford Suite at the ground and the players had just finished their lunch,' he recalls. 'Rob started speaking and straight away the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up, just listening to the words as I film the room.' McElhenney's emotional words later became the focal point of a truly stunning series four finale, with his message about the need to play with the freedom they had enjoyed as youngsters forming the backdrop as goal action from the promotion-clinching win over Charlton Athletic was interspersed with footage of the players as kids. Advertisement It made for wonderful TV and will surely be rewarded with another slew of awards when the Emmys next come around. 'Rob deserves the credit for that; inspired stuff,' McGarvey says about the montage. 'My role was to be the one on the ground, liaising with the players, collecting all the footage. Some was easier than others, with Max Cleworth's mum simply sending me clips from her mobile phone. 'Others were a bit more difficult, as the footage came in many different forms and had to then be digitised. Matty James had to go through the family archives, same with Ollie Palmer. 'Sam Smith's footage (as a toddler kicking a ball in the hallway at home) was probably the hardest to get but it was also maybe the most iconic, due to Sam scoring twice that day.' Working on Welcome to Wrexham can be demanding, especially for the team on the ground in Wales. A typical working week during the season can be between 60 and 70 hours, and sometimes more with travel if, say, there are back-to-back away games, such as last season's long-distance double-header against Exeter City and Cambridge United. High-profile matches demand a full turnout from the UK crew, including three members of staff in the dressing room — McGarvey as producer, regular soundperson Hopwood and a camera operator. Other fixtures might seem less promising on paper but football's ability to throw up a surprise when least expected means every game has to be staffed, particularly when it comes to shooting the all-important dressing-room footage that has become such a cornerstone of the show. 'An element of familiarity is key,' he says when asked about the scenes featuring Parkinson famously letting rip at his players. 'There's times, as a crew, when you need to be able to fade into the background, almost not be noticed. That can only happen if Phil and the players have trust in who is there in the room. Advertisement 'It's why we've gone with familiar faces when it's a chosen game and three crew members are needed in the dressing room. Other times, it'll be me filming in there on my own. It probably isn't my greatest strength but this is live sport, so there's always a chance of something big happening. You have to be there, just in case.' This near-constant presence in the dressing room makes us wonder what it's really like when Parkinson launches into those now-famous tirades, complete with plenty of swearwords. 'The funny thing is you 100 per cent know when something is documentary gold, such as when Phil or Steve are saying something,' adds McGarvey. 'But you can't let on, can't even flinch. 'That's what I mean by not being noticed, that need to be able to fade into the background. You can't even get your phone out to type in a note. Just store it away in your brain and then, first chance you get after things have calmed down, take a note.' McGarvey is certainly going out on a high after three promotions in three years working on Welcome to Wrexham. The show is also up for another three Emmys in September, including the Outstanding Unstructured Reality category it won in 2024. 'That's what makes all the sacrifices worthwhile,' he adds. 'When you get recognised with an award like that, there's not a higher award I could get.' A desire to spend more time with his young family — wife Annie, plus sons Thomas, 14, and Jack, seven — and wanting to explore other projects, including some possible World Cup 2026-related work, explains the move. There's no doubt, however, that Wrexham has left an indelible mark on the Irishman and in particular, how so many, both inside and outside the club, were willing to open up their lives on camera. 'The James Jones story was one of the most moving,' he says about the episode in series three when the midfielder and wife Chloe spoke so candidly about son Jude's ultimately successful fight for life after being born 15 weeks prematurely. '(We're) really honoured they let us tell their story. Advertisement 'Same with Paul Mullin being so open (about son Albi being diagnosed with autism). Seeing this guy who is so adored on the terraces as a great family man at home reminds you sometimes that there's more important things in life. 'There's so much I'll miss. Rob and Ryan have been great; just genuinely nice lads who I've learned so much from. Fantastic storytellers. Then there's Humphrey (Ker, community director) and (director) Shaun Harvey. Both became great friends and real confidants. 'Telling the story of the Gresford disaster (when 266 lives were lost) with one of the victim's daughters was another privilege. Likewise, getting to know Arthur Massey (Wrexham's oldest fan who passed away at the age of 100) and his family. 'All special in their own way, especially as what I take most pride from the show are the stories where you've gained people's trust and, hopefully, justified that trust.' (Top photos: Left, Patrick McGarvey and Matt Hopwood, and right, James McClean; Patrick McGarvey and Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
What we know as Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty split after 12 years of marriage
The exes have two children and were married for more than 10 years This Morning presenter Cat Deeley and her husband Patrick Kielty have broken up after more than a decade of marriage and two children together. They said in a joint statement to PA news agency: "We have taken the decision to end our marriage and are now separated. There is no other party involved. "We will continue to be united as loving parents to our children and would therefore kindly ask for our family privacy to be respected. There will be no further comment." Deeley and Kielty were just months away from their 13th wedding anniversary, having got married in September 2012 at a ceremony in Rome. The exes said they would put on a united front to co-parent their two sons, Milo, nine, and James, seven. Cat Deeley missed her husband's mum's funeral Earlier this year, This Morning presenter Deely didn't attend Kielty's mother's funeral in March in Dundrum, Ireland. It was reported that she was staying home to support their two children. An ITV spokesperson told The Daily Mail at the time: "Cat remained at home to be there for her two young children before and after school on this very sad day." Move to the UK Recently, Deeley has become the face of British TV walking in the footsteps of Holly Willoughby after replacing her on ITV's show This Morning. She has been presenting the daytime chat show alongside Ben Shephard. In 2024, Deeley shared her struggles of juggling being a mum while being a presenter on This Morning. "I drop the ball all the time. I'm exactly the same as everybody else," she told HELLO! magazine. "I do the juggle – the juggle is real, the struggle is real... You know, we know, we're all just trying to make everything work. It's all a juggle; it's juggling the things that make you feel good." The couple had made the big decision to move their family to the UK in 2020. They totally changed their lives, leaving behind their $5m family home in Beverly Hills. Instead, they settled into a £4.9m five-bedroom home in Hampsted, London. Meanwhile, her husband and northern Irish presenter Kielty is the host of the RTE talk show The Late Late Show. Before the move back to London, Deeley and Kielty had lived in Los Angeles for more than 10 years. It was there that she hosted the US series So You Think you Can Dance. The family made the decision to relocate after one terrifying incident in 2019 where Kielty and their son, Milo, got caught up in a gun incident in a shopping centre. Deeley said in 2020: "Everyone was told to lie behind the counter or pushed into the loos. People were screaming and crying. Then, as they were all hiding, the FBI turned up with guns. Paddy kept Milo calm — he didn't really know what was going on." She added: "As I was driving, I began to see helicopters, news vans, firemen and armed police response squads. It makes me go funny now. It was terrifying. Paddy was shaken by it, more than Milo, who didn't properly understand. The gun laws in America are crazy." Meeting on reality TV and falling in love Love blossomed later for Deeley and Kielty. They first met on the set of reality TV show Fame Academy in 2002. But the couple were both in relationships with other people. There was a spark and they stayed in touch as friends, reaching out on each other's birthdays. It wasn't until 10 years later that the romantic spark was ignited. Kielty went to great lengths to fly to Los Angeles from Belfast to have a birthday brunch with Deeley at short notice. He previously told The Daily Mail: "Well there had always been a spark between us, but either she was with someone or I was, and then she moved to LA, so opportunities for something to develop were limited. Unless someone was stupid enough to get on a plane, nothing would have happened." Deeley was clearly impressed with the move. Kielty remembered: "I was at the Beverly Hills Hotel by 2.15pm. When I walked in, Cat looked at me and said: "Oh, you're good!"" After nine months, the couple walked down the aisle in Italy. Deeley had a relaxed approach to their wedding. She previously told Closer magazine: "Patrick went and tried the food and did all that, I never even saw the place where I got married before I got married, that's how uninvolved I was."
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
TV couple Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty announce separation
TV stars Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty have announced their separation after more than a decade of marriage. They wed in September 2012 at a ceremony in Rome and have two children together. They said in a joint statement to the PA news agency: 'We have taken the decision to end our marriage and are now separated. There is no other party involved. 'We will continue to be united as loving parents to our children and would therefore kindly ask for our family privacy to be respected. 'There will be no further comment.' Deeley, 48, has hosted ITV's This Morning alongside Ben Shephard since early last year, and previously lived in Los Angeles for more than 10 years. She hosted the US series So You Think You Can Dance, also appearing on SM:TV Live with TV duo Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly from 1998 to 2002. She also previously co-hosted BBC singing contest Fame Academy, alongside Kielty, and took over ITV's Stars In Their Eyes from Matthew Kelly. Northern Irish presenter Kielty, 54, is the host of RTE talk show The Late Late Show, having taken over from Ryan Tubridy in 2023. He made his feature film debut the year prior when he starred as a budding comedian going through a marriage break-up in Ballywalter, a movie that takes its title from the Northern Irish town in County Down. The comedian and presenter began his stand-up career as host of Northern Ireland's first comedy club, The Empire Laughs Back, in pre-ceasefire Belfast and graduated to presenting programmes such as Channel 4's Last Chance Lottery and BBC One chat show Patrick Kielty Almost Live. He also presented the documentary My Dad, The Peace Deal And Me, about his father's death at the hands of paramilitary gunmen. Kielty and Deeley's first child, a son called Milo, was born in 2016 and their second son, James, was born in 2018.
