A new series on S4C will see Love Island star Luca Bish try and immerse himself in Welsh culture. In S4C's Hansh series Mwy na Daffs a Taffs ('More than Daffs and Taffs'), we will see the fishmonger turned reality TV star try and learn some Welsh words and phrases, play football with Wrexham women's football team and share his original assumptions of Wales.
The Mwy na Daffs a Taffs series, which has been available to stream since March 2, includes The Only Way is Essex star Gemma Collins, The Apprentice competitor Ryan-Mark Parsons, and last year's runner-up of ITV's Love Island, Luca Bish. The programme hopes to bring together some of the UK's most famous reality celebrities who have their own biases and assumptions about Wales, and try to immerse them in our culture to challenge the clichés.
During the show, Luca Bish, who was coupled up with Gemma Owen during the dating show, revealed what his original prejudices of Wales were. He said: "If I could describe Wales in three words it would be damp, green and untouched. Untouched because it just looks like it was when Henry VIII was about.” At one point, the reality TV star said that he wasn’t even sure if there was any sand on Welsh beaches.
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He later added: "When you think of Wales and it being a country, I think - yes, they are their own country but I do think of it as a small part of England. I know one Welsh word and it's 'diolch' [thanks].
"My only connection to Wales would be, growing up I used to support Tottenham and Gareth Bale played for them. And I listen to Tom Jones here and there. I’ve stepped over the line a couple of times on my way to visit Gem, but other than that, it’s never appealed to me if I’m being honest. If I was [sic.] to take anything away from going to Wales, it would be to wanna go back."
However, it seemed that his assumptions about Wales would eventually change. During the programme, the reality TV star got the chance to learn a few Welsh words and phrases such as 'pysgod' for fish, 'Cymru Am Byth' and a few lines from the Welsh national anthem - Mae Hen Wlad fy Nhadau.
The show's presenter, Miriam Isaac, also took Luca to Wrexham where they met up with Lili Jones. Having played for both Everton and Wrexham and even met Hollywood star Rob McElhenney, Lili was described as a “bit of local legend” and was willing to "sort [Luca] out".
During an interview with Miriam, the avid footballer discussed what impact Hollywood actors and Wrexham AFC co-owners, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, had on the community in Wrexham. She said: "They have learnt about us, they’ve been a part of this big process. It’s amazing not just for Wrexham but the whole of Wales. I think if we can do that to Luca - get him to understand their passion for Wales, we’ll have done a good job."
And it seemed that the Wrexham women's football club were able to achieve exactly that. The reality TV star was invited to a training session with Lili and her teammates. "When he begins to understand that Wales is its own country, maybe he can join [the football team]," Lili said during the session.
Although Luca first came to Wales expecting it to be damp and miserable, a football match at Wrexham' AFC's home turf - the Racecourse Ground - proved that there was more to Wales than what he initially thought. At the end of his two-day trip, he said: "It’s not what I thought. Do you know what made it? The people." He added: "Not even the football, when we were around the town and stuff like that, everyone was really welcoming and friendly. I imagine they are like that with everyone else. It was quite nice to experience that."
You can watch Mwy na Daffs a Taffs on iPlayer here.
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