Katy Jackson and Paul Warman, from Berwick, near Polegate, beat 10,000 competitors to appear on the new ITV programme Public Property.
For 12 weeks every decision in their life, from what they wear to where they work, will no longer be theirs. Instead, the watchers will decide their fate.
Edited highlights from the last 24 hours in the participants’ lives will be broadcast every day.
In the studio, presenter Kaye Adams will invite viewers to make a decision which will change the lives of those taking part. Each participant must act on the viewers’ choice.
But Paul and Katy, who have been together for three years, are not afraid of losing control – they hope Public Property will pull them out of the poverty trap.
Katy, 29, said: “I should be out of debt. I should own my own house. I play the violin at pub gigs and I am a cleaner but there must be something better for me out there. Until now, though, I haven’t got off my backside to find it.”
She isn’t perturbed by what she might have to go through, either. She said: “I have done auxiliary nursing and there cannot be too many greater challenges than that.”
Paul, who is 38 and unemployed, hopes the programme will provide a fresh start. He said: “I’ve had awful bad luck over the years.
“I really need a boost to set me on the right track and maybe even get some qualifications so I can get a good job.”
A camera crew will move into the village to follow the couple and Katy’s five-year-old son Oliver every day for the next three months.
Viewers will have three options to vote on, which will be discussed in the studio by Kaye and the Council of Elders, made up of members of the public.
The stakes will get higher as the series progresses and participants will be presented with increasingly challenging scenarios.
After 12 weeks the winner – the person viewers feel has made the most of their opportunities – will receive a ‘freedom prize’.
Makers of the show say the award will give them the chance to fulfil a life dream.
Malcolm Allsop, executive producer of the series, said: “This is a truly massive idea which could genuinely change people’s lives for the better and give them the impetus to get their lives moving in the direction they want them to go in.”
Public Property starts on Monday at 5.05pm.
