Monarch adds showbusiness class

The wait is nearly over for 11 celebrities who have spent the last six weeks training to be part of a brand new ITV2 reality show, CelebAir. Award-winning leisure airline Monarch has been sharing its 40 years of aviation experience with the celebs who must make the grade if they’re going to emerge victorious from their eight-week stint with the airline, which commences on Tuesday 26th August.

Training in roles such as cabin crew, check-in and ticket desk agents, they will be flying customers from London Gatwick to a host of top European destinations as they battle it out to become CelebAir’s star employee and win money for their chosen charity.

Faced with the challenges and situations that are presented to Monarch staff on a regular basis, and expected to meet the high standards set by the award winning leisure airline, the celebrities will be rated and judged by their own customers as well as the Monarch Mentors, highly-experienced members of Monarch staff who will be judging them throughout the programme and have the power to dismiss them from the programme.

CelebAir flights will operate to destinations such as Faro, Alicante, Malaga, Ibiza, Menorca, Tenerife and Cyprus, with customers being able to book seats on these flights via monarch.co.uk/celebair. A Monarch Airbus A321 has been rebranded and will operate in CelebAir colours until the end of the series, with CelebAir customers booked on flights being served by celebrities on the ground and in the sky, as they all endeavour to deliver Monarch’s exemplary customer care whilst keeping a smile on their faces at 35,000 feet!

Commenting on the CelebAir partnership, managing director of Monarch Airlines, Tim Jeans said, “As the most experienced airline in the UK, who better to provide the support and infrastructure for the celebrities and CelebAir than Monarch? Celebrating our 40th anniversary this year, no UK carrier has a better knowledge of the airline industry than we do and we are proud to be sharing this expertise with the celebrities and taking responsibility for their training and mentoring”.

Also commenting on CelebAir, Zai Bennett, Controller of ITV2 said: "CelebAir promises to be a huge reality event this autumn on ITV2. It is an incredibly ambitious project on a scale not seen before in reality TV. This definitely isn't a show for work-shy celebrities, we're taking on a real plane, with real passengers with real holidays to go on - it promises to be an amazing trip."

Celebrity cabin crew include:

Michelle Marsh

The former Page 3 girl shot to fame in The Daily Star and has also appeared in Loaded, Maxim, Zoo and Playboy. She had a Top Ten hit in November 2006 with 'I Don't Do' and also appeared in ITV2's Wags Boutique.

Phil Cornwell

One of the most accomplished voice artists, comedians and actors in the business, Phil is best-known for his roles in impressionist comedy Dead Ringers. He has also appeared in The Bill, Doctor Who and I'm Alan Partridge.

Lisa Scott-Lee

A member of one of the UK's most successful groups, Steps, Lisa Scott-Lee achieved 14 Top Ten singles with the group before their split in 2001. She was the subject of a year-long MTV documentary, Totally Scott-Lee, in 2005 and appeared in Dancing on Ice on ITV in 2007.

Johnny Shentall

Johnny was a dancer for Steps, where he met future wife Lisa Scott-Lee, and joined boy band Boom! in 2001 before becoming the public choice to replace Kim Ryder in Hear'Say, the group spawned from the first Popstars series on ITV. Since Hear'Say, Johnny has appeared in musicals such as Starlight Express in the West End.

Mica Paris

Mica is one of the UK's biggest soul singers with a string of hits in the 80s and 90s, and after a 20-year career in the music business she moved into TV with appearances on The Wright Stuff, Loose Women and Strictly Come Dancing. Recently she has co-hosted What Not To Wear and appeared on Gordon Ramsay's The F Word.

Chico

Chico shot to fame in the 2005 series of The X Factor and became hugely popular for his cheeky chappy attitude, charisma and stage presence, with judge Simon Cowell describing him as 'a born entertainer'. His catchphrase 'It's Chico Time!' became famous and he released a single of the same name in February 2006, knocking Madonna off the Number 1 spot.

Amy Lamé

A presenter, comedian, club promoter and writer, Amy was raised in New Jersey and moved to London in 1992. Lamé works as a radio presenter with Danny Baker on BBC London 94.9 and appeared on his podcast, the All Day Breakfast Show. She also appeared in the second UK series of Celebrity Fit Club and has made regular appearances on the programmes Loose Women and Richard & Judy.

Dan O'Connor

Dan is best-known in the UK for his role as Ned Parker in Neighbours. Prior to landing the role, he was a finalist on Australian Idol, performing the track 'Amazing' by Josh Kelley to get himself into the final 12. Dan left Neighbours in April of this year but will remain on our screens until October. His hope is to have a pop/rock record out by the end of the year after signing with new management.

Tamara Beckwith

One of the original 'It Girls', Tamara has appeared in a variety of TV shows including Shooting Stars, Brass Eye, Loose Women, Celebrities Under Pressure, The Big Breakfast, Trigger Happy TV and Dancing on Ice. She recently appeared on the BBC's reality TV programme Celebrity Scissorhands where Lee Stafford trained celebrities to cut hair, raising money as part of the BBC charity Children in Need.

Kenzie

Kenzie came to fame as part of the ten-piece pop/rap band Blazin’ Squad in 2002, which he had joined aged 13. As a group they achieved six consecutive Top Ten hits, including a Number One with the single ‘Crossroads’. The band split in 2005 and he went on to form Friday Hill and he became youngest ever contestant on Celebrity Big Brother. He also took part in 2006’s Cirque De Celebrité.

Lisa Maffia

Lisa first came to prominence as the main female member of So Solid Crew - a large collective of UK garage artists whom she had known since she was 13. They had five Top 20 hits, most notably ’21 Seconds’ and won a MOBO award in the Best UK Garage Act category. She’s been voted by Nuts magazine as one of the sexiest brunettes in Britain and has modelled for Elle, Vogue and Maxim.