The three-part BBC Two series will see the TV personalities follow in the footsteps of the English aristocrats who took on the Grand Tour
Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder are set to star in a new BBC travel show which will see them explore the art and culture Italy has to offer. The three-part BBC Two series will see the TV personalities follow in the footsteps of the romantic poet Lord Byron and English aristocrats who took on the Grand Tour, a classic trip through Europe popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
With a working title of Rob And Rylan’s Grand Tour, the series will see them visit artistic treasures in Venice, Florence and Rome. In Florence, they will delve into the Renaissance artistic period including classic pieces like Botticelli’s Venus.
Locations: the historical centre of Florence
They will also be marking the 200th anniversary of Byron’s death by referring to the poet’s poems and letters about his Grand Tour alongside the diaries of others who made the trip.
Filming took place, for one week, in the most iconic locations in Florence: at the Galleria degli Uffizi, the Stibbert Museum, the Bargello Museum, at Piazzale Michelangelo, in Piazza Santa Croce during the final of the Calcio Storico, in Piazza della Signoria, in Piazza Santa Maria Novella, in Ponte alle Grazie.
Along the journey, the duo will be learning what it was to be be a Grand Tourist, trying flamboyant Italian looks, fencing, dancing and romancing. The series was commissioned by Alistair Pegg, commissioning editor for arts at the BBC. The executive producers are Lana Salah and Dominque Walker.
