Joe Wilkinson makes a canal travelogue with Joe Marler
Celebrity Traitors friends reunited
Joe Marler and Joe Wilkinson are to make a BBC Two travelogue along Britain’s canals.
The pair became pals while appearing together on Celebrity Traitors, and the new six-part series – provisional called The Friend Ship – will put their relationship to the test in the tight confines of a narrowboat.
Wilkinson is a a longstanding canal enthusiast and will take Marler on a barging trip that finishes at the Falkirk Wheel, the rotating boat lift that connects two stretches of canal in Scotland.
They will also travel through North Wales, the West Country, Birmingham, the Pennines, London and Edinburgh, while exploring the male loneliness epidemic, programme-makers Zeppotron say.
Wilkinson says: ‘I love canals, I love Joe Marler, I love drizzle. Making this show is absolute heaven for me.’
Marler says: ‘I’m really excited to be spending an intense amount of time with my favourite hundy, Joe. Less looking forward to the claustrophobic canal boat he’s asked me to spend it on. But if we can get through that, I’m sure our bond will be stronger than ever. And if not, well, at least you know who your friends are.’
Filming has started on the show but no broadcast date has yet been announced. It follows other countryside-set shows focuses on comedians’ male friendships such as Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing and Sam & Ade Go Birding.
Peter Holmes, managing director at Zeppotron, says: ‘If I had to choose two people to steer a narrow boat into a canal wall it would be Joe Wilkinson and Joe Marler. Here’s hoping their blossoming friendship can survive the perils of Britain’s beautiful waterways.’
Published: 17 Sep 2026
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