Lenny Henry and Rachel Riley among stars diving with sharks in new show

Powys County Times

03-06-2025

Actor Sir Lenny Henry and Countdown star Rachel Riley are among the famous faces who are diving with sharks for a new show.
Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters is set to air in 2025 as the 50th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's three-time Oscar-winning film Jaws is celebrated this year.
Participants also include presenter Ade Adepitan, Call The Midwife actress Helen George, comedian Ross Noble, McFly bassist Dougie Poynter and Amandaland actress Lucy Punch.
ITV said that the 'group of ocean-phobic celebrities' will be heading to the Bahamas, where they will have to dive with bigger and more dangerous species of sharks.
Bimini, the island where the show will be filmed, is home to around seven to 10 different types of the fish including Caribbean reef sharks, great hammerhead sharks, bull sharks and tiger sharks.
The celebrities will also take part in a series of challenges as they learn the importance of sharks to oceans' ecosystems.
Karen Plumb, head of factual entertainment at production company Plimsoll Productions, said: 'The team at Plimsoll is uniquely positioned to pioneer this format that blends conservation with wildly entertaining pop culture.
'We're constantly looking for innovative approaches to wildlife storytelling and are certain that our fish-out-of-water spin – delivering 50 years after Jaws – will transform the world's perception of these critical predators before it's too late.'
Sir Lenny, 66, who is known for sketch show The Lenny Henry Show, and sitcom Chef, has also been in fantasy series The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, and taken part in ITV celebrity singing programme The Masked Singer.
Riley, 39, has been on BBC competitions Strictly Come Dancing, Richard Osman's House Of Games and The Weakest Link.
She has previously voiced support for Bite-Back, a shark and marine conservation charity.
I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! winner Poynter, 37, has previously campaigned for action on plastics to protect oceans and wildlife.
He has released the book Plastic Sucks! You Can Make A Difference, and used his Instagram account to criticise the use of shark fins in medicine, and soup.
Call The Midwife star George, 40, said in a post on Instagram: 'One of the most insane experiences of my life, learning about these incredible creatures, with equally incredible humans.'
Katie Rawcliffe, head of entertainment commissioning at ITV, said: 'We're super excited to be combining the work of Plimsoll – a blue chip natural history production company – with the expertise of ITV Entertainment.
'Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters promises to be a once in a lifetime challenge for some of the bravest celebrities out there.'
Bite-Back's founder Graham Buckingham has previously said that Jaws is not a 'documentary', and pushed for the public to 'learn to see them (sharks) as awesome, fascinating and incredible creatures worthy of protection'.
According to the Natural History Museum, shark attacks fell to the lowest level in more than three decades last year, with the International Shark Attack File saying that 47 people were hurt in 'unprovoked shark attacks' in 2024.