Each episode features one contestant battling against a celebrity in a number of disciplines. The games include sports contests such as climbing, motorsport and ice hockey, puzzles and various other challenges. The show notably features several highly unusual challenges, including using a saw to cut a large log, dropping a pea into a bottle from a height of 1 metre, hammering nails into a piece of wood, and chopping a large sausage.

Games carry varying numbers of points for the winner (1 point for game 1, 2 for game 2 etc.), and successful contestants win a prize of £50,000. If the celebrity wins, the jackpot rolls over, or is added to a prize fund for the season finale in which host Vernon Kay competes.