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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Jessica Sansome

BBC Freeze the Fear viewers share format confusion amid shower scene complaints

Freeze the Fear returned to screens on Tuesday night with more chilly antics for a bunch of celebrities who signed up to be whisked off to Italian Alps to be taught how to love and embrace the cold by Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof.

The six-part series began on BBC One last week with Holly Willoughby and Lee Mack as hosts and first saw the eight famous faces meet Wim for the first time as they stripped down to their swimwear and jumped into a hole in a frozen lake, with the water nearing zero degrees, as well as complete a terrifying forward-facing abseil down a 500 foot icy cliff edge.

After getting cosy in their stunning - and warm - tepees in their very own mini-village, it was time for the next challenge as the stars - including ex-EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite, rapper Professor Green, former Manchester United footballer Patrice Evra, Strictly Come Dancing professional Dianne Buswell, and TV presenter Gabby Logan all continued to push their mind and bodies to the limit in freezing cold temperatures.

READ MORE: ITV This Morning fans issues plea as Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield return - and Lee Mack causes chaos

The latest instalment of the survival series saw the contestants tasked with enduring a 15-second cold shower as part of a challenge that will become part of their daily routine, except the amount of time they spend under the 12-degree water will increase by a further 15-seconds every day until they can endure it for two minutes.

First up to brave an icy shower was Gabby and tenor Alfie Boe and last up was Tamzin and Patrice. But Patrice struggled with the idea of taking the cold shower, referring to his childhood where being sprayed with cold water was deemed a punishment.

All the celebrities, however, successfully completed their first shower and later headed off to learn more about Wim's eye-opening breathing technique.

Viewers were baffled by the shower scenes (Hungry Bear Media,BBC/Hungry Bear Media/Pete Dadds)

But with the first half of the show taken up with a look at the celebrities inside the village and taking a shower, viewers were confused by the format.

@RobynDwyer tweeted: "#FreezetheFear this is literally watching people take a shower. Am I missing something?!"

"#FreezeTheFear is an utterly bizarre format," @Statsmanuk commented.

@keet0007 shared: "#FreezeTheFear What's the big deal? A shower? What about making it a bit more exciting?"

The group later took part if a breathing exercise, guided by Wim (Hungry Bear Media,BBC/Hungry Bear Media/Pete Dadds)

"Not overly impressed with this ep of #FreezeTheFear… Half an hour in and all they’ve done is take a cold shower. Is this the next challenge," @scoobysn4cks said.

@foreverrsept wrote: "Had high hopes for #FreezeTheFear and I’m sat watching a bunch of people have a 15 second cold shower."

"I can't believe BBC has a show about celebrities taking a cold shower and then being congratulated on the achievement. #FreezeTheFear," @Arsenal_Muse argued.

@mehbo added: "Being British is watching a load of overpaid celebrities take a cold shower on prime time television. #FreezeTheFear #wimhof."

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