In a cream suit, with a sharp new haircut, Fred Sirieix appears entirely at home in the bar of a glitzy London hotel. And that’s as it should be. First Dates’ host-cum-matchmaker spent his career in high-end hospitality before being “sidetracked”, as he puts it, when telly came calling. Now his new show is taking him right back to his roots: the nitty gritty of hotel and restaurant service.
In Fred’s Last Resort, 12 young Britons looking to change their lives are dropped into a five-star resort on the Côte d’Azur – glittering sea, white parasols and glossy one-percenters in massive shades – to learn every aspect of the hospitality business. There’s £10,000 and a job for the last one standing. Predictable havoc ensues as, thrown in at the deep end, the recruits spill drinks, tell one guest: “Your arse looks amazing”, and are equally revolted by waxy discarded cotton buds and oysters. Many Apprentice-adjacent tropes are present: tasks and team leaders, speakerphone recriminations, terrible decisions and professionals watching in mute horror as the chaos unravels. But the kids, with all their insecurities and anxieties, are very endearing – those you would employ in a heartbeat but also the ones who could age you 10 years in a single lunch service – and it has heart and humour.
