By Danny Gutmann
Copyright manchestereveningnews
TV presenter Rylan Clark has recalled how he feared for his life as he began filming for a new TV show with his good friend Robert Rinder. Rylan and Rob travelled to India for their series Rob and Rylan’s Passage to India. After the success of BBC show Rob and Rylan’s Grand Tour, which saw them travel around Italy, the pair returned for a follow-up, which is scheduled to air on Sunday, 14 September. However, while Rob shared how he is “obsessed” with the sights and sounds that were on offer as they jetted into the Indian capital New Delhi, Rylan revealed how he feared for his life during one tense moment. During an interview with the Radio Times, he recalled how the trip quickly went from bad to worse after they landed, saying: “I got off the plane, went through passport control, and got bit on my face. “Then I was thrown into a rickshaw and I genuinely thought I was going to die. It was a huge culture shock. I’ve never been anywhere like that before in my life.” In the first episode of the new series we will see the pair head to New Delhi before they board a packed train to the state of Rajasthan during the religious festival, Diwali. For the final episode of the series, the presenters will take a trip to Varanasi – one of the world’s oldest cities and India’s spiritual capital – as well as the temples of Khajuraho. While the pair had known each other before starting the BBC series together, they have seen their friendship go from strength to strength on the back of the documentary. The pair addressed the long-standing rumours that they are romantically involved during their chat with the Radio Times, with Rylan saying: “Everyone thinks we’re together because we’re doing this show and we show each other affection.” Despite admitting an affection for his co-star, Rylan insisted that they will only ever be just friends, as he joked that he would “be in prison because I would have smothered him with a pillow by now” if they were ever romantically connected. The duo had seen their careers take very different directions before finally joining forces for their own show last year. Criminal barrister Rob shot to fame in 2014 when he headed up his own courtroom show on ITV, Judge Rinder. Following a similar format to the hit US show Judge Judy, Rob used his previous legal expertise to welcome guests onto the show to listen to their small claims cases before making a final judgement on the case. Meanwhile, since reaching the quarter-finals of X-Factor in 2012, Rylan has been an ever present on our screens, with roles presenting the likes of Strictly: It Takes Two, This Morning, Supermarket Sweep, and Ready Steady Cook.
