Herbert Howe, the scissor-wielding emperor of Liverpool hair, puts six celebrities through five days of waxing, tinting and tantrums inside his real Princess Avenue salon. The hook is cruel: each celebrity is shackled to an apprentice, and whichever trainee wins walks away with £10,000 and a job contract, meaning the famous names carry the weight of someone else's future every time they fumble a bikini wax.
The line-up reads like a 2013 gossip column: James Argent from The Only Way Is Essex, Helen Flanagan fresh off Coronation Street, Yvette Fielding of Most Haunted, Jody Latham from Shameless, chef John Burton-Race and entertainer Rustie Lee. Presenters Laura Jackson and Eoghan McDermott keep score as Howe doles out humiliating punishments—Arg and his partner scrub floors after botching a consultation, while Helen dissolves into tears when John brands her lazy.
Viewers never saw the third instalment: it was dumped online after ratings fell below 600,000, and Channel 5 quietly cancelled the format before the promised live final. Five edited episodes aired from 13 September 2013, leaving only a digital-only masterclass in intimate waxing as the show's orphaned legacy.
Production Details
Channel 5 / 1 Season / 5 Episodes / 2013 - Present
Producer(s): Barry Hart (series)
Main Cast
James Argent as Self
Yvette Fielding as Self
Jody Latham as Self
Helen Flanagan as Self
Laura Jackson as Self - Presenter
John Burton-Race as Self
Rustie Lee as Self
Eoghan McDermott as Self - Presenter
Craig Davies as Self
