Graham Nortons New ITV Show: Families Compete Ruthlessly!

's new show The Neighbourhood will see families living on a real street compete in a series of ruthless, backstabbing challenges for a £250,000 prize.

Producers on the series, filmed last year in the Peak District, actively encouraged cut-throat behaviour, with contestants playing nice to each other's faces before secretly voting rivals out. 

The reality format, tipped to rival 's , taps into the tensions of everyday neighbourly life - from bin disputes and noise complaints to passive-aggressive messages in the WhatsApp group chat.

And Graham, 63, best known for his long-running talk show and A-list interviews, admitted he couldn't turn down the opportunity to front the series - one of his first major projects away from the .

Much like … Get Me Out of Here!, the show features large-scale, high-energy challenges, including an oversized clothesline task and a chaotic sprint involving 2,500 garden gnomes. 

Filmed around the clock for three weeks, the series follows contestants as they live together in the purpose-built 'Neighbourhood', with Graham overseeing events - and stirring the pot - via the group WhatsApp chat.

Speaking to the press as he introduced the new show on location in the Lake District, Graham said: 'Welcome to The Neighbourhood. Where you are now - this is Keep Your Enemies Close, and this is the hub of the show where all the drama, tensions and laughs will unfold right here.

'You are the first people in the world to get a sneak peek at The Neighbourhood, and it's a show that I'm really excited to be at the helm of.

'Anyone that knows me will know that as much as I enjoy my job, I'm also very lazy, so when the brilliant teams from Lifted Entertainment and The Garden asked me in for the pitch, I thought, well I'll do that but then I'll say no. 

'And then as I was sitting there, I thought oh this is really good. I have to say yes to this, so here I am.'

He continued: 'It has that combination of big challenges and also all the behind-the-scenes, behind-the-doors 24/7 filming, combining those with a life-changing prize of £250,000, and I was hooked. Being here, you get the scale of this competition - it really is extraordinary.' 

Meanwhile, Ed Daggett, Development Executive at Lifted Entertainment, expressed hopes that the new ITV show could rival the BBC's The Traitors, saying: 'The Traitors has been absolutely phenomenal in terms of the way it's attracted reality fans and people who may not normally come to reality shows.

'Of course, we would want to come close to that sort of success.'

Ed explained that the families living in The Neighbourhood will take part in challenges to secure their place in the competition, but when it comes to eliminations, contestants will simply place a 'For Sale' sign on 'removal day' outside the house of the person they wish to evict.

However, being ruthless isn't the only way to win the six-figure cash prize - families must also sweeten up their neighbours and form alliances on the street, or risk losing everything.

He said: 'There are going to be big challenges on the show, and they will be taking place both on and off site.

'The idea is we have taken things that are typical of neighbourhood life and supersized them into big games. The first game of the entire series is an enormous seven-metre-high washing line, and certain members of the family will be spinning up there while answering questions about each other.

'We have one turbo-charged curtain-twitching game, where they have to watch everything that happens at night out of their curtains, and there's a big quiz about all the goings-on in the neighbourhood the next day. 

'There's a game about nasty gnomes - when we first tested this game, we had 1,500 gnomes, and the feedback was we needed 1,000 more gnomes. So there's going to be 2,500 gnomes, so we have taken recognisable visual things and turned them into big games.'

He added: 'If contestants do well in the games, then they're safe in The Neighbourhood, but if not, they are subject to the vote, which in the show is called 'The Removals.'

'First, in their houses, they decide behind closed doors - just like you gossip and moan about your neighbours at home - they decide who they want to remove. Then they send one of them out in front of Graham, and they take it in turns to make their decision. They do that by taking a 'For Sale' sign and marching over to the house they want to remove and planting it in front of the house.

'So the family with the most 'For Sale' signs at the end - their household leaves the neighbourhood.'

Graham will be at the centre of the show's drama, keeping tabs on the cast through a WhatsApp group chat.

His messages could arrive at any moment, as the families are summoned to events such as a trip to the local pub, The Uppin Arms, a barbecue, or even a sports day during their three weeks on the show.

Life in The Neighbourhood is designed to feel like real everyday living, complete with a café run by a genuine local woman - rather than a paid actor - serving coffees, along with the occasional party. However, every element is intended to fuel competition between the rival households.

While Graham is the only celebrity involved, with all contestants being unknown families to ensure an 'authentic' experience, ITV bosses are hoping the format could return in the future with a celebrity edition.

Ed said: 'Graham is ever present in The Neighbourhood via the WhatsApp group. He leaves them voice notes about the challenges. He's not staying here on site, but it might be implied that he lives in The Neighbourhood as he dips in and out with information.

'The show is about being ruthless in challenges but still be popular enough in the pub and in the café, over the fence, with your neighbours so they don't vote you off when the removers come around.

'The contestants are all real people, and we have tried to find that authenticity during the whole series. We want people watching the show to say 'they're just like us' or they're just like those people living over the road. We want people to start talking about the show on their own Neighbourhood WhatsApp groups.

'If series one goes well, we definitely see the show happening with celebrity families - that's the dream. I would love the Dyers.' 

• The Neighbourhood starts Friday 24th April, 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX