Holly Willoughby is normally to be found nestled in a warm TV studio in London but that all had to change for her latest showbiz gig.
For her new series, Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof, Holly braved the sub-zero temperatures of the Northern Alps.
Though unlike the eight celebrities taking part in the chilly challenges, she remained wrapped up, dry, and fully glamorous at all times.
Holly, 41, says she was distracted from the extreme cold by her co-host Lee Mack, who she describes as "the funniest person I've ever worked with."
Forget the giggles with This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield and banter with Dec while standing in for Ant on I’m a Celebrity – comedian Lee made her chortle the most.
"I've never worked with anyone as funny as Lee," she gushed. "On screen, off screen. We had the best time. I'm a huge fan of his anyway. Spending time with him, we had such a laugh. He is relentless in his ability to just make me giggle constantly."
The idea for the programme came about after Holly was impressed by the so-called 'Iceman' Wim Hof's ideology that deep breathing and cold water therapy can boost the immune system and combat depression and stress.
"I’m a scaredy-cat,” she said. "My fear is fear – I am scared of everything. I'm always looking for things to make life a little bit easier, or a bit better. And I'm getting better at it, but anything I can add to my toolkit helps.
"Over the last few years, I’ve been looking in all different areas trying to find something – it has to be something quite simple that fits in my life. Someone introduced me to the whole Wim Hof method, which I’d never heard of."
She discussed it with husband Dan Baldwin, a TV producer – who looks at every experience in life with the question 'Would this work on telly?'
Holly said: "I said we should do the breathing thing and if we're ever brave enough we could jump in a cold shower – not together, separately! Suddenly you realise, this works, and it’s wonderful – and they created the most incredible show around it."
The show takes former footballer Patrice Evra, TV’s Gabby Logan, opera singer Alfie Boe, actress Tamzin Outhwaite, weatherman Owain Wyn Evans, Strictly’s Dianne Buswell, rapper Professor Green and singing footballer Chelcee Grimes to the Italian mountains.
Over eight episodes, the group attempt harder and harder challenges as they become better at controlling their minds and bodies. Holly says the cold cannot be underestimated.
"It was freezing," she recalled. "Some days, it was minus five or six. I had heat packs in every layer of my ski suit possible. I know, poor old me," she further commented.
In next Tuesday's opener, viewers will see the celebs jump through ice into the freezing depths below and perform a forward-facing abseil down a sheer cliff. It's not for the faint-hearted.
Holly said the changes she witnessed in the group were staggering. She added: "As the whole process was going on, I was so jealous of what they were doing, because you could see the transformation."
She continued: "You could see what they were coming away with, and it’s infectious. You want that for yourself. And even though I wasn’t jumping in the cold, I still came away with changes to my mindset just by being around it."
The mum-of-three reckons she could handle the challenges the sub-zero celebrities faced, given the chance.
Holly said: "I think the experience that they had, actually doing cold water therapy with Wim Hof, is such an opportunity. I would absolutely jump at the chance of doing it."
But Lee felt very differently. The comedian and actor admitted: "I absolutely cannot tell you how much I wouldn't have been able to do it. I made it very clear from the outset that I am doing nothing, and when I say nothing I don't mean a little but none."
The pair tried having a cold shower out of solidarity with the shivering celebs – but Lee only lasted only about three seconds. Holly claims to have a video of the incident, and that she will one day share it on Instagram.
Despite his lack of involvement, Lee, 53, loved working with The Iceman. He said: "Wim’s a proper bona fide lunatic – I mean he's crazy as hell but in all the best ways.
"I've never known anyone so passionate about what he does. He is the most real person I’ve ever seen on TV."
And the 53-year-old admits his on-screen scepticism is all an act. He said: "I have a great belief in what Wim does, but most of my mates, they won’t know anything about this.
"So I thought, 'I’ll be the one that’s asking questions'. Actually, I totally believe in everything he's doing. I just tried to be cynical for the sake of bringing in those that don't believe in any of this."
Lee says that, with no eliminations to fret over, the series is like a kinder version of ITV 's huge hit I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here.
"I have to say, genuinely, I’ve never done a show like this, and I'm not really a massive fan of this genre of television," he added. "But what I love about this is we're not trying to starve people and deliberately get rows going or trying to show that negativity that you see a lot on these style of shows. It felt positive out there."
Holly said: "For a show set in the cold, it had a whole lot of warmth."
Talking of warmth, Lee admits that his decision to dress in a huge furry coat backfired. He said: "I thought it would be quite amusing for me if the celebrities were in the cold and I was constantly wearing a fake fur coat with a mug of hot chocolate.
"The reality is that even when it looks as if I’m wrapped up warm, most of the time I'm absolutely boiling."
Producer Dan agrees that while the show contains extreme challenges, it is very different to I’m a Celebrity. He said: "It's not putting people in situations where they’re covered in spiders or anything like that. Everything had a purpose. Wim really cares about people."
Holly said co-host Lee was funny even when he wasn't trying to be. She said: "Working with Lee is like working with Frank Spencer. He loses everything. He lost two sets of car keys and had to get somebody out to break into his car."
And Lee thinks Holly is a natural comic. He said: "She's as good as any comedic actress or comedian in terms of knowing where the jokes are."
In the first episode, Dutchman Hof explains he learned to tolerate extreme cold as a way of coping with grief decades ago. He explains: "I truly realised the benefit of the cold when I was grieving the death of my wife, Olaya, in 1995.
"I was left alone with four kids to look after and no money, dealing with emotional agony and yet needing to be strong. The children made me survive but it was the cold that brought me back to life."
The techniques he developed have allowed him to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts and run a half-marathon in the Arctic Circle barefoot. Wim, 62, says: "What I am capable of, everybody can learn. It's not about being tough, it's about taking control over your own fears."
Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof starts next Tuesday (April 12) on BBC One at 9pm.
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