Cork stars battle great outdoors in new tv series
Two familiar Cork faces will be testing their grit in some of the most remote and treacherous environments on Earth in a new RTÉ series starting next week.
Singer Lyra from Bandon and All-Ireland camogie star Ashling Thompson from Milford, are amongst seven well-known Irish names to take part in ‘Uncharted with Ray Goggins’.
The series sees adventurer and former special forces soldier, Ray Goggins, take well-known Irish faces from the worlds of politics, music, and sport on extreme outdoor expeditions around the world.
Each week, Ray challenges a new well-known pairing with a physically and mentally demanding adventure, designed to push each participant to their limits.
As they face the wild together, the experience becomes more than just an adrenaline rush — it’s a deeply emotional journey. Bonds are forged, stories shared, and vulnerabilities surface, as Ray guides participants through a transformative wilderness challenge.
The first episode airs on 14 May and will see Cork singer-songwriter Lyra team up with former taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar as they head to the wild untamed mountains of Drakensberg in South Africa with Ray as their guide. In the episode, the unlikely trio sleep in caves, scale gigantic peaks, and climb sheer rock faces as they make their way to the top of one of the tallest waterfalls on the planet, Tugela Falls.
Next up is rap trio Kneecap who will join Ray in the far north for a gruelling five-day Arctic experience that will test the lads’ resilience in a landscape where temperatures can drop below minus 40.
Episode three sees Paralympic gold medallist Ellen Keane and six-time All-Ireland Cork camogie star Ashling Thompson travel to Bolivia to the start of the fabled 'Death Road' on a seven-day challenge, trekking close to 100km through the dense cloud forest of Bolivia, negotiating raging rivers, punishing terrain, and wild jungle. Climbing ever higher into the Andean Mountains, Ellen and Ashling will show all their resilience as they traverse glaciers and snowfields to make a 6088 metre summit attempt. It will be one of the toughest tests of their lives.
In the finale of the four-part series, champion Galway hurler Joe Canning and track and field star Thomas Barr meet Ray in Colombia where they will embark on a gruelling journey navigating deadly class five river rapids for what is an unforgettable and dangerous challenge, pushing both to their limits in unfamiliar territory. Met by Ray with warnings of deadly snakes and venomous spiders, their route back to civilisation will take five days navigating the rapids, with both accomplished sportsmen digging deep.
Episode one of ‘Uncharted with Ray Goggins’ featuring Leo Varadkar and Lyra airs on RTÉ One| RTÉ Player on 14 May at 9.35pm.
‘Uncharted with Ray Goggins’ is independently produced by Diffusion Media for RTÉ.