Reality telly on slippery slope

TV3's upcoming local show The Summit, to be filmed in Arthur's Pass in the South Island, is shaping up to be a steamy slice of reality TV. Two teams must complete challenges set out by extreme sportsman Steve Gurney to avoid being voted off by their team-mates.

The show has been billed as a New Zealand version of Survivor but without the romance of the balmy tropics to set the scene.

That's not putting off the contestants, according to insiders, who say the majority of the action is not of the Fear Factor kind but of that between the sheets, with sexual tension among the contestants leading to late-night rendezvous and jealous cat-fights.

TV3 is yet to decide on the show's timeslot.

The Summit, hosted by new-comer James Gemmell, starts mid-May.