Celebrities live off junk food in new ITV show The Junk Food Experiment

A line up of celebrities will live off burgers and pizza for new ITV show The Junk Food Experiment.

Six famous faces have volunteered themselves forward to to put their bodies on the line and become guinea pigs in an extreme scientific experiment to find out what our junk food lifestyle is actually doing to us.

For three weeks, the celebrities will be be overeating burgers, fried chicken and pizza – Britain’s top three favourite junk foods – for lunch and dinner to understand exactly how food can affect our bodies.

The Junk Food Experiment line up

Those taking part are singer Peter Andre, The Chase mastermind and barrister Shaun Wallace, politician Nadine Dorries, actress Hayley Tamaddon, Olympian Tessa Sanderson and TV personality Hugo Taylor.

The extreme trial will take place under the watchful eye of renowned dietary expert Dr Michael Mosley and, because it’s a controlled experiment, the effects will be carefully monitored and measured.

Every seven days, they will undergo a full-body MOT, comprising a suite of over 60 different medical tests designed by experts to reveal exactly what is happening to them.

Peter Andre, a self confessed junk food fan, works out six times a week and believes that gives him a free pass to eat what he wants.

Peter said before the experiment: “I’ve always believed that we should always focus on activity rather than what you eat. I want to see whether I’m actually right. Maybe, when you balance out bad and training, you’re fine.”

The Chase’s Shaun added: “I like fast food, sometimes I am a sort of junk food junkie. I live a very hectic and busy lifestyle…Both my parents had diabetes Type 2, I didn’t want that to affect me so that’s why I want to take part in the experiment.

“I want to see whether it has an effect on my health.”

Hugo said of his reasons for signing up: “I think I want to do this, almost in a charitable way, but I want to bring attention to something I think is an issue in this country. I personally think it’s easier than ever to eat healthily in the UK.

“You’ve got dragon fruit, you’ve got avocado, you’ve got all these natural things… I am genuinely more nervous about this than, I think, anything I’ve ever done before.”

And six-time Olympian Tessa Sanderson said: “Obesity is something I really, really fear. It is something that is going to escalate and we’ve just got to do something about it…

“It’s up to the parents and this is where I think a lot of obesity and things comes in for youngsters, parents have to start from home.”

Meanwhile, MP Nadine Dorries ends a 20-year-old burger ban for the show as heads for dinner with the Prime Minister at Number 10.

With some of the celebrities forced to pull out of the experiment on medical grounds at the risk of doing irreversible damage, the overall impact on their bodies is far more devastating than anyone would have thought possible…and that is before they go cold turkey at the end of the 21 days with some astounding results.

The Junk Food Experiment airs TONIGHT – Wednesday, February 27 – at 9PM on ITV.