Bradley Walsh has admitted he couldn’t turn down working in the sunshine for his new TV show after one too many harsh winter shoots in London.

The Law & Order: UK star features in new series SunTrap, filmed in Gran Canaria, and revealed that the good weather had been a major part of what drew him to the job in the first place.

He said: “I’m a big fan of iconic TV shows like Magnum, P.I. and Minder. I just thought, ‘Well, if they can sort of replicate that and get the chemistry right…’.

SunTrap
Bradley Walsh in SunTrap (BBC)

“I met (co-star) Kayvan [Novak, Fonejacker funny man and SunTrap star] and I really liked him, and there was just no option for me, I had to say yes.

“I’d spent so many years being a downtrodden detective [in Law & Order: UK] standing on Hammersmith Bridge at 6am getting rained on and snowed on and beeped at, and I thought, ‘What a change of direction and career if I go and do that in Gran Canaria’.”

Bradley, 54, also praised his co-stars in the series, including Keith Allen who he said had a surprising inspiration behind his Spanish accent.

SunTrap
Bradley Walsh in SunTrap (BBC)

He said: “You’ve got people like Paul Kaye, Keith Allen, and Jack Dee. Keith is just brilliant. I said to him, ‘How did you get your Spanish accent so good?’ and he said, ‘I sat and watched old footage of [Spanish golfer] Seve Ballesteros, and Al Pacino in Scarface’. It’s a brilliant piece of acting.”

SunTrap begins on BBC One on Wednesday, May 27.