Baz Ashmawy is a good guy to have on your side. With 50 Ways To Kill Your Mammy and Holy Show, he sealed his reputation as a good-natured, mischievous messer and an inveterate taker of things to their extremes. With Lost Muslim and All Bets Are Off, he showed that he can handle serious issues too – with a unique blend of sincerity, charm, and empathy.
Now, he brings that entire skillset to bear in an entertaining, madcap, poignant, revealing new series: Baz Ashmawy: Wingman.
Whether the participants have an unfulfilled ambition, a personal dream, a love lost or a hope that has never been encouraged, Baz vows to step into their lives and get them over the line. As he gets to know each new friend, engaging with them on their home ground, he hatches a plan to shake things up.
In the past two weeks, we've seen our charming host pull on a pair of wellies to visit a quirky dairy farmer who dreamed of putting on a play in his rural town and we've watched him hit the road with a father and son who requested a road trip to remember.
Now, in the final episode of the series, we will witness the 44-year-old train a single mum who wants to toughen up.
The final episode in the series sees bubbly Emma Stafford, a middle-aged, single mum who has survived breast cancer want to take up a new challenge – something that might toughen her up – such as self-defense.
Baz is impressed with Emma’s courage in her health battle and suggests that she might have the clue in her name MMA – would she be up for a fight in a cage? He approaches Coach John Kavanagh, one of the world’s most successful MMA trainers, and the plan is hatched.
Baz takes on the role of Mickey to Emma’s Rocky Bilboa but it will be no joke in the cage as John Kavanagh and Wingman see the lady step in the cage for her first time in an SBG record of only three months from zero to fight night.
Watch the final episode of Wingman on Sunday on RTÉ One at 9:30pm. Catch up on RTÉ Player.
