Exclusive
EXCLUSIVE: The Box's Joey Essex and Danny Aarons tease MAJOR fall out on the show
30 August 2026, 20:00
The Box contestants Joey Essex and Danny Aarons exclusively opened up to Capital about the 'alliance' and 'bromance' they formed and how it was put to the test...
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ITV's brand new celebrity gameshow sees the most unlikely 10 celebs come together to compete to become The Box's first-ever winner.
The unlikely celebs include Love Island's Shakira Khan, reality TV star Joey Essex, YouTuber Danny Aarons, JLS' JB Gill, The Chase's Jenny Ryan, broadcaster Ranvir Singh, Dragons' Den entrepreneur Sara Davies, football pundit and former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness, comedian Ellie Taylor and former MP John Bercow.
While The Box features some team challenges, there can only be one winner at the end, which means the competitive side of the contestants was forced out of them.
For Joey and Danny, who quickly formed a strong bond, the competitive element of the show put their new-found friendship to the test.
Speaking about the rapport he and Danny built, Joey told us: "Well, it was good because again, in The Box, you're all against each other, and like, to know and look someone in the eyes and be like, 'Okay, we're definitely a team. You sort of had a bit of an edge.'"
While they had a good friendship, Joey explained that it was a constant test of trust, saying: "It's every man for himself. Realistically, in the end, Danny could have gone, 'Actually, you know what? I want to win, so I'm just gonna not help Joey.'"
When asked if the trust was ever broken, Joey was quick to say: "Let's not talk about that."
However, Danny interjected, adding: "It was broken but restored."
Joey said that it was a sign of "true friendship" because they were able to restore their trust after it was broken.
As The Box cast were not allowed to give us any spoilers, we are yet to know which one of them broke the trust but we will find out in upcoming episodes.
Danny did admit that he was extremely competitive during filming and even gave himself the nickname of "monster". He joked: "Joey made me competitive, but in a nice way. Ranvir made me competitive in a sour way."
Watch the trailer for The Box
On the other hand, Joey told Capital that The Box taught him to be more "selfish" in life, saying: "I'm not a selfish person. I feel like I need to be more selfish... I'm too nice."
The reality TV mogul added: "I feel like sometimes you've got to learn to be a little bit selfish sometimes. Because especially in this, like, you was a team player, but obviously half the time you wasn't."
The Box starts on ITV1 and ITVX at 8:15pm on Saturday 5 September and 8pm on Sunday 6 September.
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