It was a TV special designed to give celebrities a glimpse of homelessness. The BBC’s much-discussed social experiment Famous, Rich and Homeless shocked viewers by showing stars sleeping rough in London when broadcast last year.
The Australian TV network SBS has repeated the trick over three nights this week. The Antipodean version – Filthy, Rich and Homeless – showed wealthy young socialities willing to “confront their privilege” by getting to grips with life on the streets.
Like the British show – which featured John Bird as an adviser and saw Julia Bradbury spend a week on the street – each celeb is paired up with a person experiencing homelessness, spending time with them while sleeping on the streets or hostel accommodation.
It features beauty entrepreneur Jellaine Dee, bar owner Stu Lundy and Kayla Fenech, the daughter of Australian boxing legend Jeff Fenech.
The model and socialite Christian Wilkins, who introduces himself to viewers by saying “money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy champagne and that’s pretty close,” was seen struggling badly to adjust, forced to call his mum from a public phone box and reverse the charges.
