Actress Elizabeth Hurley has said she joined new gameshow The Inheritance after she “really enjoyed” watching The Traitors.
The Channel 4 show, which is co-produced by Traitors creator Studio Lambert, sees 13 strangers summoned to a stately home to compete for part of the fortune left in the will of Hurley’s character, the Deceased.
Overseeing the stipulations of the Deceased’s will is her executor, Robert Rinder, the criminal barrister who fronted the ITV show Judge Rinder.
Hurley said: “I really enjoyed The Traitors and loved the idea of being part of a show in which audiences were really invested.
“I thought Rob Rinder and I would be a good combination, and I knew it would be great to shoot in such an exquisite location.”
Asked about how she found playing a dead character in the show, the 60-year-old continued: “I’ve died on screen quite a few times, but I don’t recall lying in a coffin before.
“I quite enjoyed it actually, it was very restful.”
To win the money, players need to fulfil a series of final requests, as stipulated in the Deceased’s will.
However, only one player can claim the money gained in each request, so it’s up to one of them to persuade the others that they alone deserve the cash they earned together.
Players will include 50-year-old former police sergeant Catherine, 36-year-old professional gamer Zara, and 75-year-old chess teacher Pat.
Speaking about why she joined the game, Pat, from Yorkshire, said: “I’m at an age where you don’t get opportunities like this.
“It’s more of a personal challenge, to see if I could get a place in the game, and I’m delighted I did.
“It really is to say it doesn’t matter what age you are, you are still capable of doing a lot more than you think you are.
“That was the principal reason why.”
Catherine added: “Having had the kind of interactions that I’ve had in life through my work – previously and now – I am used to meeting completely different people every single day and quickly learning how to communicate with them in all manner of situations.
“Being polite, being empathetic, a little bit forceful when needed, a little bit direct because you need to be at times.
“I’m not afraid, through my policing, to speak up when I don’t think something is right.”
London-based gamer Zara said she would use the money to buy a house in Greece if she won, and to allow her to carry on gaming.
Rinder said the game’s players were “a diverse community”, describing them as “a rich variety of British life in every respect”.
He said of the show: “I don’t think we put them through challenges. I think we empowered them to experience things that they otherwise wouldn’t, and they delighted in all of them.
“And you know, you can learn from adversity, fishing out wine from a bottom of a lake, for example, is a teaching opportunity, that’s what I like to call it.”
The Inheritance will air on Channel 4 from Sunday August 31 at 9pm, and run for 12 episodes.
