Channel 5’s new series Around the World in First Class sees Josie Gibson checking out the booming market in luxury travel

Sometimes, viewers sit down to watch a celebrity travelogue where the famous face is roughing it in harsh conditions, and think ‘rather them than me’.

However, Channel 5’s new series Around the World in First Class, which sees Josie Gibson checking out the booming market in luxury travel, is more likely to get people wondering just how they could get her job.

If it makes you feel better, Josie (who first found fame on Big Brother, before going on to be a presenter on This Morning) is well aware how lucky she is.

She says: “When I got the call, I thought this cannot be real. I thought it was a wind-up. If somebody had told the younger me that one day this would be my life, I would never have been able to believe it in a million years. It is better than I ever could have dreamed of.

“I don’t even want to sugar coat it. I’m jealous of me.”

It’s a far cry from her childhood vacations. Josie says: “I’m one of six so our holidays would have been in Brean or Butlin’s. I still go to those places now, mind. I’m still a fan.

“What my mum would do is put us in the back of the car and drive around for ages on the estate, so it felt like we were going somewhere really far but we were just being dropped off at this little field up the road by the quarry in Rangeworthy. We would camp there but when you’re a kid it doesn’t matter, does it? But this show is like travel on steroids.”

There’s no camping in this opening episode though as Josie arrives in Dubai, where she checks into an overwater villa at the Anantara Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah. Following seafood on the beach, it’s time to head out into the Arabian Desert for a night in the exclusive Al Maha resort, where her room goes for $20k a night. For that price tag, she gets a floating breakfast in her own private pool – perfect to set her up for a safari complete with champagne and a sunset camel ride.

She then flies to Doha in Qatar, ready for a stay at the Arabian wonderland-themed Mondrian Hotel, which made a big impression on Josie.

Josie says: “I didn’t think I’d like Doha, but I was really taken aback. I suppose all the architects there had a blank canvas, so they were able to design these buildings that are incredible. We had a fire and ice themed afternoon brunch at the Fairmont. It was insane. The DJ was amazing. These people are living a life, I’ll tell you that for nothing.”

She also discovered that not all the six-star hotels come with jaw-dropping price tags to match. According to Josie: “I have never been to places like that, but I must say that even there we did find affordable luxury for how incredible these hotels are.”

So, perhaps it’s time to start planning your own first-class break…