East Garston's Freddie Tulloch, licensee of The Queens Arms, stars in TV's Four In A Bed

SET the timer - East Garston licensee Freddie Tulloch is set to undergo trial by television this week.

Mr Tulloch, who runs The Queen's Arms with wife Sue, has taken part in Channel 4's popular Four In A Bed series, set to be screened from Monday evening, January 31.

The series usually features bickering and bust-ups and Mr Tulloch admitted he would be watching nervously through his fingers.

The format involves four sets of hostelry owners who compete to prove their establishments have value for money by visiting each other's enterprise and deciding the amount they think their stay was worth.

Mr Tulloch said his wife Sue - perhaps wisely - had declined to be filmed.

So he recruited his intrepid cousin, Ben Nelson, to take part with him.

He said: "Perhaps Sue was right.

"To be honest, I'm totally terrified.

"It was all great fun, of course, and very competitive - the producers are going for a certain narrative.

"We'd just had The Queen's completely refurbished and renovated so wanted to showcase it."

The Tullochs had recently invested a small fortune in revamping the pub.

The couple took over the ailing business in September 2015 and turned its fortunes around, winning multiple national and local awards.

Mr Tulloch said at the time: “At the time everyone was really worried what would happen to our village pub if a buyer couldn’t be found.

“We took a leap in the dark with it.

“The key to our success was all the locals who welcomed us.

“The pub was once again the heart of the community, as we really hoped would be the case when we took it on.”

For the series, Mr Tulloch and Mr Nelson were up against hostelry owners from Dover, the Cotswolds and Loughborough in Leicestershire.

He added: "It was filmed last March, in the height of lockdown, so there were pretty stringent filming restrictions.

"It was certainly an experience but I must admit, I'm not sure I'm entirely looking forward to watching!"

Mr Tulloch confessed there were cloak and dagger machinations between the competitors but declined to reveal the final outcome.

The series will be screened each week night from Monday until Friday, February 4, at 5pm.