This two-part series sends an assortment of weight-challenged celebrities on a global journey of discovery, visiting countries whose populations are significantly slimmer and healthier than many of us Brits – and trying their diets for themselves.

Darren Gough heads to Italy, Cheryl Baker to India, Carole Malone to California and Linda Robson to Japan – while Jonathan Maitland, warned that he has 50 per cent more body fat than he should, gets the short straw by staying at home and sampling the snack-free, three-square-meals-a-day regime of Britain's immediate post-war years.