24 Hour Panel People announced

Radio 1 DJ and TV personality Reggie Yates has experienced unimaginable poverty by living it for real, spending a week in Kibera, one of Africa's largest slums.

Alongside Lenny Henry, Samantha Womack and Angela Rippon, Reggie went to see what life was like for Kibera's population of one million people who are crammed into an area measuring 1.5 square miles. The results of their stay can be seen in two-part BBC One documentary 'Famous, Rich and in the Slums'.

Reggie explained why he wanted to get involved in such a consuming experience: "I've been involved with Comic Relief for quite a few years but never had anything as immersive as this offered up to me. This felt like the only way I could truly get an understanding of what was going on. The word poverty is thrown around here in the UK a lot, and I didn't come from much myself, but after being on this trip, I can definitely say I didn't come from poverty!" The average wage in Kibera is 45 shillings, the equivalent of 35p per day.

Reggie noted how lucky the experience has made him feel for what he has in life: "My family did everything they could to ensure that the situation, which a lot of the young kids there are going through, I didn't have to deal with. They found a way to get to a country where there are opportunities. I'm sure when my grandfather was growing up in Africa, he could never dream that his family could achieve as much as they have. Being somewhere like Kibera and seeing these people being battered so much by the situation, being led to believe that they won't amount to anything, hit home massively because I'm proof that you can."

The celebrities were set the task of living on their own for their first few nights in Kibera, a daunting experience in such a foreign place. However Reggie noted that, thanks to Comic Relief's previous efforts, the experience wasn't as shocking as one would expect: "I think Comic Relief has opened us up, and to a certain extent desensitised us to the situations and living conditions of a lot of the slums around the world. However, meeting the people, seeing how tough their lives are and what they have to go through, that was the thing that really knocked me."

Each celebrity had their own tactics to cope with the situation. For Reggie, it was acting as normally as possible, even going to watch the football and buying chips on his way home. "It wasn't a plan, it was just the way it happened," he said. "I was like. ‘look at this, this is just like being at home.' I was doing everything I could to laugh and smile my way through it, but after a while, that doesn't really cut it anymore…especially when you start to spend time with people whose reality is very different."

This point was proven very early on, when Reggie was tasked with helping toilet cleaner Patrick to earn some much needed money. As the government has declared Kibera an illegal settlement, they do not have to provide its occupants with healthcare or sanitation. This leads to a situation where a handful of toilets are used by over one thousand people per day. "It truly is one of the most horrific things I've ever done in my life!" he said. "Meeting Patrick and seeing that people do that for a living, to put their kids through school, completely threw me. To think that someone would be doing that every single night by choice was insane. My respect levels for the people that are finding a way to live in this situation and still better themselves was incredibly inspiring."

Reggie's DJ connections proved invaluable for one young boy, Paul. An aspiring hip hop artist, Paul was desperate to record his own music, but couldn't afford the process. He barely scraped a living hustling for odd jobs which paid a pitiful 30p for two hours work. Luckily for him, Reggie's old friend G Money at Home Boys FM was on hand to help him record his first track. He said: "Paul meeting G is a situation that just wouldn't have happened…he's like the Chris Moyle's of Kenya! Some kid in a slum who's cleaning dishes for a living and desperately wants to be a musician, he would never meet someone like G. To a certain extent it was a complete fluke and an amazing bit of luck that there was a connection and I was able to help in some way."

The experience affected Reggie so profoundly that he is returning to Kenya to visit some of the inspirational people he met on his journey, and to try and set up some projects of his own: "I'm going back to Kenya to see Paul again, and I've been in constant touch with G, but I have to find a way to understand the situation a little bit more before I can really throw my oar in."

There is one person in particular that Reggie is keen to see again. "On the second or third day, I started to get a bit beaten down, and I hated myself for it," he said. "The minute I met Lilly (Paul's cousin) everything changed. She was the first person I had met in the entire trip who was almost like a pillar for everyone. Lots of people came to her for emotional up-lift, as well as for food. She was this incredible pillar for the community who just did so much for so many people. It was inspiring and incredible being around her. I really want to get some funding behind her to help her help more women in the area, and inspire people. She's in a pretty bad situation but she's found a way to deal with it and be a support system, which is incredible."

He added: "I hope the programme does the right thing, and makes people realise that Comic Relief isn't about going to hospitals, getting African kids to smile and then leaving again. This is a pretty hardcore experiment and idea, and if it inspires people to give more then it will be doing exactly what we intended it to do."

Famous, Rich and in the Slums starts on BBC One on Thursday 3rd March at 9pm.

You can donate via your mobile while watching the programme. Read our £5 Texting terms and conditions