Tempting Fortune is a British reality competition television series where a group of people try to win the biggest cash prize they can by avoiding temptations to spend money from the prize fund.[1]
The show is hosted by Paddy McGuinness. The first series was filmed in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa during 2022, and premiered on Channel 4 on 26 March 2023.[2] It was commissioned, as a co-production, in partnership with streaming platform Roku and was released by its programming brand Roku Originals.[3] The show was renewed by Channel 4 in April 2024 but Roku was no longer a partner.[4] The second series, set in Langkawi, Malaysia, began airing on 16 March 2025.[5]
Format
Tempting Fortune is a show where 12 strangers hope to win a share of a prize pot of £300,000. They are left in a remote location where they embark on a gruelling trek to reach their destination. All the participants are provided with only the basic survival gear and they have to spend many days without any creature comfort. Along the way they are tested with temptations, such as good food, luxurious accommodation, various home comfort or opportunity to skip a difficult part of the trek to see if they have the willpower to resist spending their money on these luxuries. Every temptation chosen by the participants will be subtracted from the final prize pool. The more they spend and the less money they will win at the end.[6]
This was a temptation done in private. Lani only drinks half the drink.
Luxury Spa
£1,000 or £1,500 per person depending on package
Dan, Jack, Lani, and Michelle.
£4,500
Lani opted for the 'indulgence' package costing £1,500.
Vending machine
Various prices
Dan and Jack
£400
This was a temptation done in private as a pair and not given to any other contestants. They bought a bar of chocolate and shared it with everyone else.
Equipment
Various prices
Dee
£2,000
Dee needed new walking boots as she had misshapen them after leaving them too close to the fire. This wasn't a temptation per se.
Home Comforts package
£1,500 per person
None
£0
It included food and drinks, a mock living room with a chance to watch TV for the evening.
The teams are now split in two, those that have spent in one team, those that haven't in another
Alcohol
Various prices
Carolyn, Dan, Dee, Jack, and Michelle
£800
Carolynn, Dan, Jack, and Michelle shared a bottle of wine (£400 in total) and Dee had 2 beers (£400)
Phone call home
£100 per minute
Dan (7 minutes) and Dee (3 minutes)
£1,000
This temptation was done in private
Coffee and pastry
£200 for a coffee with a pastry
Carolynn and Lani
£200
Carolynn had the coffee and Lani had the pastry
A party
£3,500 per group
Carolynn, Dan, Dee, Jack, Lani, and Michelle
£3,500
Included food, drink, and a silent disco
Glamping Hotel
£3,000 per double bed
Carolynn, Dan, Dee, Jack, James, Lani, and Michelle
£12,000
Included food and drinks and breakfast the next morning. James stole some teabags despite not taking the full temptation but was charged as if he had.
Two groups are reunited as one team again
Donuts
£200 per donut
None
£0
Bag taken directly to next camp
£500 per person
Michelle
£500
Cocktail Bar
£300 for a cocktail, £200 for any other drink
Dee, Lani, Michelle
£900
Dee had wine, Lani had a cocktail and Michelle had 2 wines
Spending is now taken from your own personal funds left rather than the whole group
Charlie, Dan, Dee, Jack, Lani, Michelle, Trelwey-Precious
£7,000
A slap up meal and unlimited drinks
Shortcut to the finish line
£500 per person
Carolynn, Dan, Dee, Jack, Lani, Michelle, Trelwey-Precious
£3,500
A car taking them directly to the finish line instead of trekking
Together the contestants spent £26,700 on temptations shown. However, the show jumps the amount between temptations and has the total spent as £28,700.
Series 2 (2025)
Contestants
Name
Age
Occupation
Temptations and spendings
Winnings
David
38
Vicar
£3,975 and £14,000 banked
£28,835
Henry
23
Amateur Footballer
£1,750 and £4,000 banked
£18,835
Hugo
20
University Student
£1,500*
£14,835
Imani
32
Fashion Blogger
£9,250 and £1,500 banked
£16,335
Martha
24
Yacht Stewardess
£4,050 and £4,000 banked
£18,835
Nathaniel
29
Personal trainer
£12,925 and £10,000 banked
£24,835
Sam
40
Ex restaurant owner
£3,075 and £4,000 banked
£18,835
Ted
58
Retired Prison Officer
£25,000 cost to fly home
£0
Thom
33
Hospitality Sales Manager
£2,850 and £4,000 banked
£18,835
Tomasz
39
Firefighter
£7,300
£14,835
Trish
59
Paramedic
£4,425
£14,835
Vicky
38
Greeting Cards Business owner
£4,425 and £30,000 to fly home
£0
Hugo technically never chose to spend any money, this was a temptation where if enough people chose to do it (6 out of 10) it was offered to everyone. Hugo did not take the offer of the temptation despite it being paid for.
Temptations
Temptation
Cost
Tempted contestants
Total spent
Notes
Glamping beds
£1,200 per double bed
Imani
£1,200
Only started using it at 2am
Air conditioning cubicle
£200 per minute
Imani
£1,000
Taxi to next campsite
£1,500 per person
Trish and Vicky
£3,000
Pool Club
£2,000 per person
Imani and Tomasz
£4,000
Flight home
£25,000
Ted
£25,000
Ted left on medical grounds so didn't have the additional £5,000 taken from the prize fund.
Glamping
£750 per person
Vicky
£750
The team was split into small groups for this task and offered it in smaller groups
Taxi to next camp
£1,000 per person
Imani and Vicky
£2,000
The Nag's Head Pub
Various prices
Imani, Tomasz, and Vicky
£1,400
Imani had a Fanta, Tomasz had a pint of Guinness, Vicky had a portion of cheesey chips.
Home comforts
£300
David, Imani and Tomasz
£900
David had a packet of Haribo, Imani had a haircare kit and Tomasz had a donut. The temptation was done in secret without other teams members knowing of it was taken or not.
Hotel
£2,000 per double bed
Martha and Tomasz
£2,000
They shared a bed
Flight home
£25,000 + £5,000
Vicky
£30,000
Coffee Shop
£250 for a coffee and pastry for two people
David, Nathaniel, Sam and Trish
£500
Sam gave her pastry to Trish
Chinese Buffet
£4,500 per group
Imani, Martha, Nathaniel, Thom and Trish
£4,500
3 or more members had to say yes to have it. They are split in two groups at this point.
The Retreat
Blind auction bid
Nathaniel
£10,000
The next highest bid was only £3,698. There was an option to take a second person which wasn't used.
Pick n Mix
Various prices
None
£0
Only temptation the group turned down
ATM
Various prices + £250 transaction fee
David, Henry, Imani, Martha, Sam and Thom
£23,000
Of those tempted everyone chose to take £4,000 except Imani who opted for £1,500.
Disco
£400 per person
David, Imani, Martha, Nathaniel, Tomasz and Trish
£2,400
Video call home
£100 per minute
David, Imani, Sam, Thom and Tomasz
£3,000
The Spa
Various prices
David and Tomasz
£2,000
Both spent £1,000 each.
Super Yacht
£10,000 for 5 people or £15,000 for 10 people
All
£15,000
Trish, Tomasz, Imani, Martha, David, Nathaniel all wanted to do it, unlocking the temptation for everyone. Hugo and Henry decide not to take temptation even though they technically paid for it.
£20,000 cash in a rucksack
£20,000
David and Nathaniel
£20,000
In pairs, couples went and could open the bag and take £20,000 between them or reject it. If everyone rejects the bag the funds stayed with the group as a whole. No other pair even looked in the bag.
Together the contestants spent £60,150 on temptations shown. The contestants took £41,500 from the prize fund and banked it for themselves.
