A film crew descended on Canberra today, Thursday 13 June, to film a reality TV show – not with paid B-grade actors seeking 15 minutes of fame – but with philanthropists who raise funds for charity. Unheard of.

Adventure All Stars is billed as the world’s only socially-conscious TV travel show and they’ve been filming around Canberra all week (goodness, “adventure” and “Canberra” in the same sentence).

Visit Canberra must be beside itself with the free advertising as the TV show screens in 195 countries to almost 200 million people (in Australia on 7Plus, Fetch, Samsung TV Plus and the Outdoor Channel).

How it works is simple: 12 philanthropic cast members raise money ($10,000 minimum) for a charity of their choice, in order to go on the adventure travel show. There are no mind games like The Traitors and no insane challenges like Survivor, there are just thrills.

Season five is the first time the show has featured Canberra and the funny thing is – the 12 stars of the show (from summery Brisbane) didn’t know their destination until the plane was landing in icy, sub-zero-degree Canberra.

This morning, they shivered as they waited for their latest thrill (after tobogganing at Corin Forest and mountain biking at Mt Stromlo), a close encounter with a cheetah at the National Zoo and Aquarium.

These selfless people didn’t care about the cold, however, their generosity in supporting charity was front of mind. Six of the 12 cast members have raised funds for domestic and family violence charity, RizeUp Australia, to the tune of $75,000.

A timely fund-raiser given that as of April this year, 25 women have died of gender-based violence in Australia (11 more than this time last year).

Cast member Carly Rudd said she knew first-hand what RizeUp did, as her family has received help from the charity.

“When I was invited to be part of Adventure All Stars, it just made absolute sense to be a part of it to raise more awareness and to embark on a week of surprises,” Carly said. “No one’s getting booted off [like in Survivor], we’re a team, we’re just like-minded people supporting each other and it’s nice to know we’ll finish as a team. We’re in it for the money for our charities, which is what’s most important.”

As each cast member lined up to pat a wild cheetah, there were some emotional tears from the wild encounter. Many said they felt fortunate and blessed to have such an experience. How refreshing to see a reality TV show where attention-seeking wannabes weren’t the centre of attention, rather selfless philanthropists and their chosen charity.

For these generous souls, the show was just a bonus. Their charities were the highlight.

All net proceeds from the TV series are given to Australian charities. Funds raised via the Canberra episode will go towards Fierce Females, Kids Foundation, Myeloma Australia, RizeUp Australia and Small Steps 4 Hannah.  So far, 65 episodes of Adventure All Stars have raised more than $10 million for charity. Season five in Canberra will be broadcast in 2025.