{"id":253426,"date":"2026-01-20T01:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T01:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/253426\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T01:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T01:20:13","slug":"gillian-mckeiths-daughter-afton-signs-up-for-ben-shephards-new-itv-reality-show-the-summit-and-will-compete-for-a-huge-cash-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/253426\/","title":{"rendered":"Gillian McKeith’s daughter Afton signs up for Ben Shephard’s new ITV reality show The Summit and will compete for a huge cash prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gillian McKeith<\/a>‘s daughter Afton has signed up for a new ITV<\/a> reality show, The Summit, Daily Mail can exclusively reveal.<\/p>\n

The singer and performer, 25, who competed to be named Miss England last year, will take part in the forthcoming reality show, hosted by Ben Shephard<\/a>, as she follows in her mother’s reality TV<\/a> footsteps.<\/p>\n

The Summit will see a group of people attempt to reach the peak of one of New Zealand<\/a>‘s biggest mountains.<\/p>\n

Insiders have revealed that Afton will join 13 non-celebrity contestants, and they will head out on an epic 100-kilometre journey across a wild, mountainous landscape.<\/p>\n

Their goal is to climb 8,500ft to the Summit of a distant mountain to win a share of a cash prize of up to \u00a3200,000, with the format already a hit in Australia.<\/p>\n

The programme was originally thought to be debuting on UK screens in 2025, but according to TVZone, the launch date was pushed back to 2026 due to scheduling.<\/p>\n

\"Gillian <\/p>\n

Gillian McKeith’s daughter Afton has signed up for new ITV reality show, The Summit, Daily Mail can exclusively reveal<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The singer and performer, 25, will take part in the forthcoming reality show, hosted by Ben Shephard (pictured), as she follows in her mother’s reality TV footsteps<\/p>\n

Speaking about his new role, host Ben Shephard said: ‘This series really has got it all; the contestants are going to be tested in every possible way as they try and take on the mountain. They’ll need a serious amount of grit, determination and strategy if they want to reach The Summit\u2026<\/p>\n

‘Most people know how much I love exercise and adventure, but this is taking it to another level – I’ll be donning my mountain gear to check in with them as they battle up the mountain and do their best to combat the demands of the ominous Mountain’s Keeper.<\/p>\n

‘I can’t wait to see how they get on because anyone who reaches The Summit will have seriously earned every penny of the prize fund.’<\/p>\n

Paul Mortimer, ITV Director of Reality Commissioning and Acquisitions, added: ‘Not only is this a huge and complex endurance test for the contestants, overseen by the wonderful Ben Shephard, it’s going to be an absolute nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat watch for viewers at home.<\/p>\n

‘Filled with cliffhangers, shocks, twists and turns it’s going to keep people guessing from the very first step of the trek to that final summit.’<\/p>\n

Last year, Afton made it to the final of Miss England, and while she didn’t scoop the prize, she was announced as Miss Kensington & Chelsea for 2026.<\/p>\n

While her mother Gillian may have been a nutritionist by trade, she quickly made a name for herself as a TV personality, competing in the likes of The X Factor: Battle of the Stars and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!<\/p>\n

The bright lights of fame are also alluring for Afton, who previously told the Daily Mail: ‘Performing is my passion. I am an actress. I have performed in theatre shows and musicals, TV & film.’<\/p>\n

\"While <\/p>\n

While her mother Gillian may have been a nutritionist by trade, she quickly made a name for herself as a TV personality, competing in the likes of The X Factor: Battle of the Stars and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here<\/p>\n

Afton admitted she would love nothing more than starring in a period drama, with her dream job being a role in Netflix’s racy regency series, Bridgerton.<\/p>\n

‘A show like that would be perfect for me,’ she gushed. ‘Or I would love to act in a romantic comedy and work with someone like Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Anniston or Adam Sandler whom I recently bumped into in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago.<\/p>\n

‘He wished me good luck on my movie that I was filming while I was there!’<\/p>\n

The Summit will air on ITV1 and ITVX.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gillian McKeith‘s daughter Afton has signed up for a new ITV reality show, The Summit, Daily Mail can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[986,8212,539,93,126624,61,60,8642,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-253426","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-ben-shephard","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-gillian-mckeith","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-itv","16":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}