DO we really need another jolly boys trip on the telly?

If you want to pitch a travel show, all you need is two or three celebrity blokes, a motorhome, a couple of Vespas and an open road in the Med. Cue high jinks in the sunshine with Gordon, Gino and Fred; Anton and Giovanni; Bradley and Barney Walsh - and now Paddy and Chris: Road Tripping.

This latest TV bromance sees Paddy McGuinness and former Top Gear co-star Chris Harris spend a BBC1 prime time slot larking about in Greece, Sweden and Switzerland. The rather flimsy brief is that they’re “exploring the secret to living a long and full life” - which seems to involve, among other things, yelling on a rollercoaster, sweating it out in a naked sauna and attempting to milk a goat.

Hitting the road in a campervan, cranking up the volume on the 80s power ballads, the pair share travel tips - Paddy’s must-pack item are novelty swimming trunks “that come out once a year to out-dad all the other dads at the hotel pool” - and soul-searching insights. “I think the slower pace and ‘simple life’ attitude adopted by people on the Greek island of Ikaria was really inspiring,” says Chris, who may or may not be reading a press release the publicist has placed in front of him.

Next we have the stars of Men Behaving Badly, Neil Morrissey and Martin Clunes, reuniting for a “road trip adventure” through France. Neil & Martin’s Bon Voyage, billed as “a three-part buddy movie around the beautiful French countryside”, will see the pair travel from Normandy through the Alps to Morrisey’s cider apple orchard in the southern region, taking in local food, scenery and traditions.

I have a soft spot for Martin Clunes, and France, so this sounds quite watchable. But let’s face it, aren’t these endless TV road trips just an excuse for a lads’ holiday? Dressed up as travelogues, they’re about as riveting as three old men in a tin bath hurtling down a hill in Holmfirth.

I’m tired of celebs doing daft stuff abroad - it’s all gurning for the cameras and staged blokey banter behind the wheel, while telling us nothing in particular about where they are or how we can get there. Strictly’s Anton and Gio bursting into a song and dance routine as they fish for octopus in a Sicilian port town? Give me a break! Paddy and Chris having a go at Swedish woodland bathing in their novelty trunks? Just tell me how I can plan a holiday!

Why can’t they make travel programmes that showcase the kind of locations viewers are likely to actually visit? From what I recall, Judith Chalmers and co on Wish You Were Here...? used to share practical travel advice and information about the cost and accessibility of package holidays. I’d rather watch a travel show about how to get the most out of a budget city break, a cross-Channel coach trip or an affordable beach holiday than yet another hackneyed celebrity motorhome bromance.

To be fair, it’s not just the menfolk. During lockdown, when I barely travelled further than the Co-op, I lived vicariously through Jane McDonald’s Channel 5 cruise shows, and I still enjoy them, because she’s very likeable and who doesn’t love a cruise liner? But as a travel presenter, our Jane is no Judith Chalmers. Her top travel tip? Make sure you pack enough pairs of knickers for your trip. Thanks Jane.

While I’m quite happy to lose myself in a bit of hotel porn on TV - The World’s Most Amazing Hotels, below stairs at The Savoy, Posh Hotels With Nigel Havers etc - I’m never likely to stay in such places. Surely there is room, among the celebrity road trips, high end cruises and luxury hotels, for a no-nonsense travel programme about the kind of holidays we viewers can realistically aspire to.