ITV Hub Invites Viewers To Retreat Yourself

ITV Hub Invites Viewers To Retreat Yourself

Four celebrities are about to embrace the unorthodox as they enter a wellness clinic like no other - welcome to Retreat Yourself, launching on 8th July and produced by Twenty Six 03.

Commissioned as part of ITV and Campaign Against Living Miserably’s ongoing mental wellness campaign, What Gets You Through, Retreat Yourself sees unconventional-wellness guru Donna Preston open the retreat’s doors to four famous faces, ready to showcase a series of the weird, wonderful, less than conventional coping mechanisms, proving that self care comes in many shapes and forms. 

Singer Jake Quickenden, Love Island favourite Kaz Kamwi, social media star Holly Ramsay and radio DJ Dean McCollough are the celebrities checking into the most extraordinary wellness centre, where host Donna is determined to flip classic wellness activities on their head and prove that when it comes to caring for your mental health, it really is all about just doing ‘whatever gets you through.’

Forget peace and tranquility, this retreat opens up a menu of bizarre activities that will see the celebrities shed their inhibitions and get to grips with self care as they’ve never known it; meditative breathing is replaced by pottery smashing, messy Twister takes the place of yoga, and instead of therapy animals the celebrities will be herding animals. 

Retreat Yourself is the follow up to last year’s The Full Treatment, in which Kem Cetinay and Amber Rose Gill talked to different celebrities about their own mental health challenges and ways of combating them. 

With a core audience of viewers aged between 16-34 year olds on ITV2, and with over 80% of that demographic registered on ITV Hub, the partnership with CALM aims to ensure that younger people feel equipped to think about what helps them get through tough times, and make time for it. In 2021, the partnership led to over  1 million young people take action to manage their mental wellbeing and feel better able to cope with life’s ups and downs. 

As part of the partnership ITV2 and CALM have continued their TV and social media campaign for a second year. Produced by ITV Creative, the campaign focuses on the more unusual things people do to get themselves through low moments. The campaign was further amplified by a TikTok partnership with creators sharing their quirky pick me ups, and encouraging their followers to ‘Just Do What Gets You Through’. The latest burst of the campaign launched on the 6th June with a new ad featuring a young woman boosting her mood by dancing along to her gran DJing. The first burst of the campaign in March this year led to over 1.3 million people taking action to care for their mental wellbeing. 

Viewers will be encouraged to visit itv.com/ITV2CALM for more information and access to CALM’s helpline services. 

Simon Gunning, CEO for Campaign Against Living Miserably said:

“We know young people need to find new ways to look after their mental wellbeing and that traditional techniques can be off putting. This show aims to give young people a starting point to explore looking after their mental wellbeing and remove the stigma around self-care to empower more young people to do what works for them.”  

Susie Braun, Director of Social Purpose at ITV, said:

“At ITV we’re on a mission to normalise looking after our mental wellbeing. Retreat Yourself is a brilliant example of entertaining content that also has a positive impact. We hope this series with its quirky pick-me-ups will help viewers consider what really works for them on a low mood - whether or not it fits the mould of typical self-care”

Duncan Gray and Antonia Hurford-Jones, Executive Producers at Twenty Six 03, said 'We’re delighted to be working with ITV and CALM again to highlight this important issue. As well as exploring our celebrities’ coping mechanisms, the series will also be a lot of fun and we hope it will encourage viewers to find their own methods for looking after their mental health and wellbeing.’ 

Retreat Yourself is Series Produced by Kerry Flanagan. Series Director is James Kayler. 

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Notes To Editors

About Twenty Six 03

Based in Gateshead in the UK’s North East, with a satellite office in London, Twenty Six 03 is a truly independent production company creating wide-ranging content for a global audience.

Twenty Six 03 works with the best talent across the UK and key productions include upcoming Discovery + factual series Inside The Heist, BBC ONE Daytime series Emergency Vets (w/t), Angels Of The North (BBC THREE), You vs Chris & Kem (ITV2), Me, My Brother and Our Balls (BBC THREE), and Bring The Noise (Sky One); with more commissions soon to be announced.

Prior to founding Twenty Six 03 in 2015, Duncan Gray led departments at a number of major channels in the UK and US, commissioning iconic formats such as Britain’s Got Talent and executive producing key series like Jimmy Kimmel Live.  During her time running Sky Living, managing director Antonia Hurford-Jones commissioned series such as critically-acclaimed Enfield Haunting and Doll & Em and has executive produced hit series such as Let’s Dance for Comic Relief.