Whoops! The Australian Government Didn’t Realize Lance Armstrong Is in “Stars on Mars”

In news that’s so weird we don’t know how to feel about it, Lance Armstrong is now apparently a reality TV star. Stars on Mars, which premieres Monday, June 5, 2023 on Fox, boasts a tagline, “Celebrities go where no one has gone before to see who has what it takes to survive life on ‘Mars.’”

It’s not actually Mars, obviously. It’s Australia.

But maybe strangest of all, it’s being at least partially funded by Australian tax dollars via the Federal Government’s Location Incentive.

And while details of which U.S. “celebrities” would be starring in the show were kept secret from the public, the South Australian Film Corporation, a government organization that funds local film productions, recently admitted that they were unaware that Armstrong would be appearing on the show, according to the Daily Mail.

It’s almost as though the producers found out they could get tax incentives to film something in the very Mars-looking south Australian outback, and they built a show around that fact.

Everything about this is so strange it’s hard to know where to start. The show is hosted by William Shatner, the voice of “mission-control.” It’s unscripted. A dozen athletes (mostly former athletes), actors, musicians, and TV personalities will “compete” on various assignments.

“It's the most realistic celebrity Mars colony simulation ever created,” Shatner says in a trailer.

Are there others?

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