A crew of celebrities are set to go where none have gone before.
“Well, sort of,” says William Shatner, the “Star Trek” actor-turned-real-astronaut who serves as the voice of Mission Control for the new unscripted series “Stars on Mars,” debuting June 5 on Fox (opens in new tab).
Of course, the “celebronauts” are not really launching (opens in new tab) to the Red Planet. Instead, they are embarking on what NASA calls an analog mission (and in this case, it is a very loose analog at that). Living, eating, sleeping, strategizing and bonding with each other in an Earth-based but Mars-like habitat, the celebrities will compete in exploration-themed challenges and then vote to eliminate one of their “crewmates” each week, sending them “back to Earth.”
“During their stay, they will be faced with authentic conditions that simulate life on Mars, and they must use their brains and brawn — or maybe just their stellar social skills — to outlast the competition and claim the title of brightest star in the galaxy,” reads Fox’s description of the series.
Related: How living on Mars could challenge colonists (infographic)
On Thursday (May 4), Fox revealed the 12 athletes, reality stars, entrepreneurs, actors, comedians and entertainers who will “colonize, compete and conquer ‘Mars’ until there is only one victorious space invader.” The “Stars On Mars” crew includes:
- Former road-racing cyclist and investor Lance Armstrong, not to be confused with Neil Armstrong (opens in new tab), the first astronaut to walk on the moon.
- Comedian, actress and writer Natasha Leggero, who in 2005 hosted MTV’s “The 70s House,” a show with a similar concept if you swapped a different planet for a different decade.
- Super Bowl champion, community advocate and entrepreneur Marshawn Lynch, who spoke with the crew on board the International Space Station during a 2002 visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center and had a deal with Mars, Inc. to promote Skittles, the rainbow-flavored candy (opens in new tab) that later floated in zero-g aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.
- Comedic actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse, whose roles include McLovin in the 2007 movie “Superbad” and the voice of Fishlegs Ingerman in the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise.
- Olympic figure skater and TV personality Adam Rippon, whose previous cosmic connection was as the winning “star” on “Dancing with the Stars.”
- Professional wrestler and UFC champion, Olympic medalist and actress Ronda Rousey, whose mother’s surname is “De Mars” and stepfather was an aerospace engineer.
- Television personality and restaurateur Tom Schwartz, who starred on the Bravo reality show “Vanderpump Rules.”
- Sports analyst and professional football player Richard Sherman.
- Disruptor, singer, songwriter and dancer Tinashe.
- Television personality, actress and author Porsha Williams Guobadia, who was one of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
- Entrepreneur and artist Tallulah Willis, whose father Bruce Willis played an oil driller-turned-astronaut in the 1998 movie “Armageddon.”
- Actress and producer Ariel Winter, who as Alex Dunphy on the ABC sitcom “Modern Family” applied for a job at NASA.
“They must survive with no Wi-Fi, no oat milk and no personal assistants,” says Shatner in a video spot for “Stars On Mars.” After years of portraying a fictional starship captain, Shatner launched on a suborbital spaceflight (opens in new tab) in October 2021.
“Stars on Mars” is produced by Eureka Productions, the Los Angeles and Sydney-based unscripted entertainment company behind “Name That Tune” on Fox, “Holey Moley” on ABC and “Crikey, It’s the Irwins” on Discovery.
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