Joel Dommett Calls Hot Tub Moment ‘Most Awkward’, Signals Sabotage Format Direction
Joel Dommett has described a staged hot tub row on his new show as the “most awkward” thing he has witnessed. That admission, made during a March 12 interview with Cat Deeley, signals a programme deliberately pushing discomfort in service of prank-driven reactions and sets a clear line of audience expectation ahead of the show’s March 21 launch.
Joel Dommett on the ‘most awkward’ hot tub row from the March 12 interview
Joel Dommett told Cat Deeley on March 12 that the hot tub sequence was “the most awkward thing I have ever witnessed in my life, ” a phrase he used while describing how married celebrities Emma and Matt Willis staged a fight in a hot tub with two unsuspecting members of the public. Joel said the task was to make the two guests leave the hot tub, then noted that cameras followed the pair — both named Jason — back to their hotel room so the production could film their reaction.
Emma and Matt Willis task on Celebrity Sabotage and GK Barry’s reaction
Hosts Joel Dommett and GK Barry explained that Emma and Matt Willis committed fully to the staged clash, with Cat Deeley calling the sequence a “terrible moment. ” GK Barry added that the episode set a high bar for pranks, saying, “It’s set the bar quite high now – I don’t know if I’ll ever have fun again. ” The show’s format, as described by the hosts, places celebrities in roles that provoke unsuspecting participants before revealing a cash prize.
If Celebrity Sabotage keeps the same prank structure, and Should a shift occur in participant reaction
If the show continues to use staged confrontations followed by a reveal that participants have won money, the context suggests producers will rely on a two-step emotional arc: shock or discomfort on-camera, then relief when the cash prize is disclosed. GK Barry said the team tells participants, “Oh, we sabotaged you, you are on this new show… And we made you money, ” and that revelation was enough to smooth over tensions in the episodes discussed on March 12.
Should on-screen tension escalate beyond the episodes described, the context already contains signals Cat Deeley offered — she warned matters could become “tense” — and Joel called the hot tub scene uniquely awkward. Cat asked whether anyone had reacted “badly” to the pranks, and GK replied that once participants realised there was a cash prize they were “OK. ” Should future participants fail to accept the prize as consolation, the series would face a different kind of test than the one framed by the March 12 conversation.
The next confirmed milestone in the timeline is the series launch: Celebrity Sabotage starts on March 21. What the context does not resolve is whether later episodes will produce participant responses that a cash prize cannot immediately neutralise, or how viewers will evaluate staged discomfort once the series is airing. For now, the March 21 premiere will provide the first broad evidence of whether the format — exemplified by the Emma and Matt Willis hot tub task and the follow-up hotel-room filming of the two Jasons — lands with audiences and participants the way the hosts describe it.
