PENNINE pals

HELEN SKELTON and DAN WALKER on traversing Britain's first and finest long-distance trail

- REBECCA MAHONEY

DAN & HELEN’S PENNINE ADVENTURE

TUESDAY, 9PM, CHANNEL 5 TRAVELOGUE

Long-time friends Dan Walker and Helen Skelton share some very special connections. Not only have they waltzed across the Strictly dance floor as former celebrity contestants on BBC1’s sequinned extravaganza, but the lucky presenters also have a spectacularly unique landscape on their doorstep – the Pennine Way.

Spanning 268 miles, Britain’s oldest and, arguably, most iconic long-distance trail runs from Derbyshire to the Scottish Borders, and in Channel 5’s new four-part series, Dan & Helen’s Pennine Adventure, viewers are invited on a journey from Dan’s home in Sheffield to Helen’s in Cumbria.

Ditching the guidebooks and turning to social media for suggestions, the pair set off from Edale in the Peak District, before visiting stunning Bamford Edge and meeting a third-generation farmer to help shear his sheep.

Mining for Blue John, one of the rarest minerals on Earth, is also on the itinerary, along with becoming the first members of the public to canoe through Standedge, Britain’s longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel.

TV Times chatted to Dan, 46, and Helen, 40, to find out more about their series…

Why did you want to make a Pennines-based travel show together?