Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing sees Jonathan Ross asking “Could you survive being handcuffed to a total stranger?” – Hmm… if it was Jennifer Aniston, I’d give it a go.
But this rag-tag bunch are all handcuffed to their total opposite, including posh people, convicts and porn stars… oh, and smokers. Bleah!
The 9 pairs of people also get handcuffed BEFORE they even meet each other! And once met, they have to spend time in each other’s house (well, THAT’s out!) before going out and about, but while they have the chance to unlock themselves from time to time, but if they do so, they’ll win zero cash… thus rather negating the point of starting in the first place.
I’ll only name one couple in this series, where straight-talking Reuben is paired with feminist Jo, the latter of whom has colleagues that go on about things like “Don’t assume someone’s pronouns”. Enough of that horsecrap!
There’s also moments where each member of the pair give their thoughts to camera while paired together, but… the other has to wear a huge pair of presumably noise-cancelling headphones.
Along the way, some people have sob stories, some pairs get on pleasantly, while others look like they want to punch each other’s lights out. Plus, some pieces-to-camera aren’t… they’re the stupid side-on kind a la Netflix’s Lucy Letby documentary.
Oh, and NO-ONE is allowed their mobile phone, so they’re forced to talk to each other!
But will all pairs go the distance, or will some falter at an early hurdle? No spoilers here, obviously, but it’s a fascinating piece of entertainment compared to most similar shows. And since there’s no celebrities taking part, it’s actually worth watching.
Oddly, I can’t find the trailer online, just badly-formatted ones that have been uploaded to Tiktok. Never mind. Just watch the show instead.
Thanks to our friends at Channel 4 for the screener prior to release.
Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing begins on Monday night on Channel 4 at 9pm, and airs each Monday & Tuesday. After broadcast, each episodes will be on All 4.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Cert: 
Running time: 45 minutes per episode
Release date: March 2nd 2026
Channel: Channel 4
Format: 1.78:1
Directors/Producers: Sabeh Bali, Jemma Cox, Andrew Devlin, Georgina Kiedrowski, Joshua Wang
Music: Nick Harvey
Presenter: Jonathan Ross
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.