Keep Your Enemies Close facts for kids

Keep Your Enemies Close was an exciting British game show for kids. It aired on CBBC from 2009 to 2010. The show tested how strong friendships really were. Best friends were split up and had to work with their rivals. They competed in fun challenges alongside their "enemies." The goal was to reach the final round. The losing team in the final got covered in a gooey substance called "clag." Joel Defries was the show's presenter.

How the Game Works

Starting the Challenge

The show always began with presenter Joel Defries. He would introduce four teams of two best friends. Each team wore a different colored shirt: blue, pink, purple, or silver. The friends came out of a big spinning machine called "The Mixer." Each pair would share why they were best friends.

The first game was called Tube Strike. In this game, the two best friends had to guide a large clear balloon. They moved it to the other side of the playing area. Then, they used the balloon to hit a target that lit up in their team's color. After hitting the target, they returned to the center. There, they had to hit a red balloon until it burst. The team that finished first won the "Hand of Friendship." This special item gave them an advantage if they made it to the final round.

Main Games: Frenemies Unite!

After the first game, Joel Defries explained the main part of the show. The eight contestants were randomly mixed up by "The Mixer." They were split into four new pairs called "frenemies." Each "frenemy" pair had contestants from different original teams. These new pairs then competed in various challenges. These challenges were usually races to complete a task.

The pair that performed the worst or didn't finish in time was put under "Lockdown." This meant they couldn't play in the next rounds. This process continued for two more rounds. First, there were three pairs, then two pairs. The last remaining "frenemy" pair won. They could then release their original best friends from "Lockdown." These two original best friend teams moved on to the final round. The games played in these rounds changed in each episode. Joel Defries would always comment on the "frenemy" pairs. He would guess how well each group might do and give a running commentary during the games.

Popular Main Round Games

• Rip Off: Frenemy pairs wore special costumes covered in small triangles. They had to work together to pull off all the smaller triangles. When they thought they were done, they shouted "Rip off!" Joel would then check if they had removed every triangle.
• You Cube: Teams had to build a six-piece cube puzzle. Three pieces were already given to them. The puzzle pieces were tricky and could get stuck. This meant the "frenemies" really had to cooperate to put them together.
• In the Pipeline: In this game, "frenemies" used a single magnet to guide a metal ball through a clear pipe maze. A barrier separated the partners. They had to carefully pass the magnet to each other to keep the ball moving.
• Pump Action: Pairs used a bike pump to inflate hand-shaped balloons until they popped. Then, they attached the air hose to the next balloon in their set. They had to burst four balloons. The last balloon was tougher to pop than the others.
• Gutted: "Frenemy" teams had to move a large gutter filled with green and orange balls. Their goal was to get the small orange balls to a hole at the other end. They won by getting four orange balls into the pocket of the gutter.
• Push On Through: Teams tried to push large, colorful pool noodles through a wall. Each pair had a specific color of noodles to push. They also tried to push back noodles from the other teams. The team with the fewest noodles pushed through their side after 60 seconds lost.

The Exciting Final Round

The final round was a quiz with 11 questions. It was similar to the final of another show called Get Your Own Back. The two original best friend teams, now reunited, competed against each other. Each team sat in a mine cart. Six colorful hands were placed on the tracks in front of their carts. There was also a big 5x5 grid of letters that spelled "KEEPYOURENEMIESCLOSEFINAL."

On each team's turn, one letter on the grid would light up. Joel Defries would then read out a category. The team playing had five seconds to give two correct answers. These answers had to be items from the category that started with the illuminated letter. If the team answered correctly, their opponents' cart moved one space down the track. This knocked down one of the hands. If the team failed to give the right answers in time, their own cart moved one space down. If the team that won "Tube Strike" was in the final, they could use their "Hand of Friendship." This counted as an automatic correct answer.

The first team to move down six spaces and knock over the final hand, called the "clag barrier," was the loser. The winning team got to pull a lever. This sent the losing team's cart down the track. At the end of the track were chutes filled with "clag." This was a yellow and green gooey substance. The "clag" poured all over the losing team as they passed underneath! The winning team received cool silver hand-shaped medallions as their prize.

Episodes Overview

Keep Your Enemies Close had a total of 26 episodes across two series.

Series 1

• Cassien & Alfie were among the winners.
• Joseph & Gareth also won an episode.
• Jazmin & Shanice were winners in their episode.
• Joe & Sam won their challenge.
• Zain & Glen were successful winners.
• Joe & Daniel also won an episode.
• Jamie M & Owen were winners.
• Zak & Harri won their episode.
• Catriona & Natalie were winners.
• Kane & Matthew also won an episode.

Series 2

• Chelsey & Rowan won their episode.
• Peter & Victoria were winners.
• Ben & Joshua won their challenge.
• Liam & Elliot were successful.
• Jacob & Cameron won their episode.
• Lucas & Mark were among the winners.