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Louise Thomas
Editor
Jacob Rees-Mogg is the latest politician to venture into the wild world of reality TV, with his new show, Meet the Rees-Moggs.
The infamously posh Etonian has welcomed cameras into his home for a Kardashian-style TV show, marking a move into light entertainment that follows the likes of Nigel Farage (I’m a Celebrity), Matt Hancock (I’m a Celebrity) and Ann Widdecombe (Strictly).
No matter what you think about the former Tory MP, who lost his seat in the latest general election, it is likely he will make for interesting viewing.
After all, this is the politician who made headlines in 2019 for having a nap in the middle of a crucial House of Commons debate. Other unusual moments include his first tweet being in Latin, and his boast that he has never changed a single nappy despite having half a dozen children. “The nanny does it brilliantly,” he said. “I’ve made no pretence to be a modern man at all, ever.”
Rees-Mogg has insisted, though, that the show will simply be an “everyday story of Somerset folk”.
Here’s what we know about the series…
What’s it about?
Meet the Rees-Moggs is a five-part docu-series that promises to “lift the lid on the man behind the public image”.
The “fly-on-the-wall” series will be a “never-before-seen” insight into his life at home in the 17th century Somerset house (Gournay Court) where he lives with his wife, Helene de Chair, and six children, most of whom are named after medieval saints (he is a committed Catholic).
His children are called Peter Theodore Alphege, Mary Anne Charlotte Emma, Thomas Wentworth Somerset Dunstan, Anselm Charles Fitzwilliam, Alfred Wulfric Leyson Pius, Sixtus Dominic Boniface Christopher.
The show will follow Rees-Mogg during the run-up to the general election and Labour’s landslide victory, as well as showing the aftermath and the Tory humiliation that came with it.
Commenting on the series, Rees-Mogg said: “Animals, children, an election and a film crew. What could possibly go wrong? This everyday story of Somerset folk is fun to film but may be a bit more Fawlty Towers than Downton Abbey.”
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The Independent’s own South West reporter, Alex Ross, saw the documentary being filmed, when Rees-Mogg turned up on the campaign trail with a full camera crew.
According to Ross, the team followed him door-knocking around a housing estate on the edge of Bristol and even caused controversy by filming him with his family at church, apparently interrupting a group of children who were receiving their First Holy Communion.
What channel is it on?
Meet the Rees-Moggs, which consists of five 60-minute episodes, will stream on discovery+ in the UK and Ireland.
When is it out?
The show will be released later this year.
