Ireland AM speaks to Ross Kemp about new series of Extreme World which looks at Northern Ireland.

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Sharon McHugh
TV3 PRESS OFFICE
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publicity@tv3.ie

Ciara Byrne
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TV3 GROUP RELEASE:  

Monday 20th January 2014

 

Ireland AM speaks to Ross Kemp about new series of Extreme World which looks at Northern Ireland.

 

BAFTA award-winning documentary maker Ross Kemp joins Anna Daly on Ireland AM to talk about series three of ‘Ross Kemp: Extreme World’.

 

The series looks at Northern Ireland 15 years after the Good Friday Agreement, the crack cocaine epidemic in Brazil and sex-trafficking in Mumbai and Calcutta.

Ross discusses being held at gunpoint in Papua New Guinea, laughing when being ambushed and whether he will ever return to Eastenders.

 

Ireland AM airs Monday to Friday on from 7am – 10.45am on TV3.

 

BAFTA award-winning documentary maker Ross Kemp joined Anna Daly on Ireland AM this morning (Monday, 19th January) to talk about series three of Ross Kemp: Extreme World. The series looks at Northern Ireland 15 years after the Good Friday Agreement, the crack cocaine epidemic in Brazil and sex-trafficking in Mumbai and Calcutta. Speaking about how he thinks the series will be received, Ross said that there will undoubtedly be some controversy surrounding it, especially the Northern Ireland film.

“I think there’s very little to defend to be honest with you. The one thing I love about what we do is there’s no agenda. A lot of people will watch the films and say ‘why are you explaining this, why are you explaining that?’ and you’ve got to bear in mind that there’s a whole generation of people living in Luton, that live all around parts of the UK, that have no understandings of the troubles. That if you told them there was a 60 foot peace wall in Belfast they wouldn’t believe you and even if you told them what the Good Friday Agreement was, they wouldn’t understand what it is and the good I believe that has come from that is something worth celebrating. Of course there are divisions and it will take a lot of time for those divisions to disappear and maybe generations. It’s pretty obvious saying this but I still think it’s worth saying and celebrating the fact that I think Northern Ireland, and I went to Northern Ireland during the troubles, that it’s a very different place and a far better place than it was.”

During the course of filming, Ross also visited Rio de Janeiro, Papua New Guinea, Mumbai, Calcutta and many more places. While visiting Papua New Guinea, Ross is held-up at gunpoint, but instead of submitting to his hijackers he manages to turn the situation around and interview his potential captors in an extraordinary exchange which reveals why this ex-British colony is now one of the most violent countries on the planet.

Anna questioned Ross on the dangerous nature of working on a series like this and being a husband and father. He explained that everyone on the team is in the same situation as him and he tries to be a safe as possible. Ross also told Anna about a very strange thing that can happen in violent situations like ambushes.

“Laughter funnily enough is one of the best ways of dealing with it, your brain naturally sends you, when you’re being shot at, I can’t count the amount of time we were in ambushes in Afghanistan where we ended up laughing. There was nothing we could do about this situation you’re in and to release the tension, I think so that you can operate properly, or the overload of adrenalin, you end up laughing.”

When Anna asked Ross about his former Eastender character Grant Mitchell, he joked that he no longer talks about it before explaining his gratitude for the famous character.

“I’ve got a lot to thank that character for but I’m not Grant Mitchell, I am not Grant Mitchell.”

But Eastenders fans might be in luck as Ross didn’t completely rule out a return to Albert Square.

“You always say ‘never say never’, I always say that and it gets me off the hook. I really enjoy what I do now.”

You can watch the brand new series of Ross Kemp: Extreme Worlds on Tuesday 21st January at 9pm on Sky1 HD.

Ireland AM airs Monday to Friday from 7am – 10.45am on TV3.

Images have been sent to your picture desks.

 

ENDS

 

For further information

Jean O’Donovan

Press & Publicity Assistant

01 419 3428

 

Sharon McHugh  

Head of Press & Publicity

087 922 4143

publicity@tv3.ie

www.tv3.ie

 

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