Greg James: I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse is the toughest reality show on TV

Sure, the contestants won't face the icy stare of Paul Hollywood, have to live in a house full of high maintenance wannabe celebrities or eat kangaroo testicles, but it is truly scary says the Radio 1 DJ and host.

"Being scared is not a nice feeling. The embarrassment and awkwardness that you see on Big Brother is nowhere near as bad as being genuinely terrified. Probably, it is the toughest show like that," he tells RadioTimes.com. "Hopefully because of that it's the most entertaining."

BBC3's new reality TV show sees 10 people trying to survive for seven days in an abandoned shopping centre which has been overrun by the undead. "They’ve got to compete against each other to a certain extent and they have to work together as well to make sure they don’t all die and get eaten by zombies."

"It is quite gory but it is very much supposed to be silly," explains James. Not that that means the contestants will be having much fun.

"They were definitely surprised," chuckles James when asked whether the contestants were shocked by what they'd let themselves in for. "But that's great. You want to watch people going through that kind of jeopardy. That's the best thing. It's exactly what you want to watch."

James isn't keen on embracing life in an abandoned shopping centre himself – "I'd rather not do that, thank you!" – so it's a good job James is hosting the show, rather than taking part.

"I would be terrible if the apocalypse happened. I’d be really selfish and I’d annoy everyone," he says. "I wouldn’t want to cook for everyone. Cooking is a massive hassle anyway. Having to cook for people who are essentially going to be killed? I wouldn’t be fussed."

"I am the last surviving presenter," he explains. "For some reason I’ve survived the apocalypse and, whether it be through my own skill or fluke, I am there. And I have managed to broadcast this event."

"You have to suspend a bit of disbelief obviously..."

I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse starts on Sunday 15th February at 10:00pm on BBC3