Famous, Rich And Hungry- A Review

I have just watched the first part of Famous, Rich and Hungry. This two part documentary, filmed for Sport Relief, saw four celebrities spend a week living with four families who are in food poverty. They set out to experience hunger and see what life is like for those who can’t afford food.

Before going to live with their host families, food, wallets and phones were taken away from the celebrities. They were left with £3 for three days for food.

Theo Paphitis  went to Barnet, North London,  to live with single mum Ada. Ada spends £11 a week on food. In a moving moment, her daughter, 8, says mother and daughter trick each other by ‘accidentally’ leaving leftovers so that they both have enough to eat. Ada works part time as a dinner lady at her daughter’s school, so they both get a free lunch on weekdays. We learn that Theo, too, got free school meals as a child, because his family were on benefits. At the end, Theo appears to have learnt the most from the programme, and wants to keep in touch with his host family and continue to offer advice to Ada.

Jamie from Made In Chelsea went to Croydon to live with single mum Carly and her family. Carly spends £30 a week on food. In another moving moment, Carly’s daughter says that she lies to hide her own hunger, because she sees her mother shrinking. Carly has had no heating for two weeks, and has to use a food bank. I was pleased to see the programme giving a lot of useful information about food banks- most importantly the fact that people can’t just walk in to them, but have to be referred or show that they really need emergency food. Carly applies for training because she doesn’t want her family to learn to live on benefits. However, in yet another moving moment, she breaks down when  told that her private landlord needs to sell the house she lives in, which will leave her and her family homeless in a couple of months.

Soap star Cheryl went to Grantham, Lincolnshire, to Paul. She had working class roots but now thinks the whole country should have left food poverty behind, like she has. Paul, who has a collapsed lung, wants to work but can’t. He spends just £8 a week on food. He has to heat his living room but has no money for hot running water. In the ‘heat or eat’ choice, he says, he has to choose to heat because of his health. At one point in the programme, with their food budget used up, Cheryl takes food from a supermarket bin for Paul.

Rachel Johnson, journalist, author and sister of Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, went to South East London to widow Dee, who had a stroke two years ago and spends £21 a week on food for herself and her two daughters. She started the programme with  what is becoming a familiar attitude towards people in poverty or on benefits- by asking the question ‘what if they can’t afford food but spend on alcohol, cigarettes and satellite TV.’ However, at one point, food budget just about used up, we see her on the street outside the supermarket, begging for 9p so that she can buy mince meat to cook for Dee’s family.

The programme as a whole was moving and educational for me. What I liked most about it was something I found surprising because it has not been done in any of the similar programmes I have seen recently. Paul’s and Dee’s health problems were revealed straight away, although they were not focused on. In the case of Paul, his wish to work was made very clear.

I must thank the BBC for showing so clearly in this way what I have been trying to say for so long- that sick and disabled people do want to work but they just genuinely can’t. I wish more programmes about poverty and benefit claimants would highlight this fact as clearly.

I’ll definitely be watching the second half tomorrow on BBC1 at 9pm.