If your life were to end at 3 p.m. tomorrow, what would you regret not doing? That’s the question producers of CBC’s new No Opportunity Wasted asked the thousands of people from across the country who applied to face their fears on national television.

Twenty people will be chosen for the 30 x 10 reality series, which began shooting in June and will be filmed across Canada and around the world.

No Opportunity Wasted is based on the book and ‘personal life philosophy’ of The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan, says executive producer Morgan Elliott. ‘The show is about giving people the Drano to overcome a blockage they have.’

In each half-hour episode, two preselected contestants, who do not know they have been chosen, will be ambushed by Canadian adventurer Bruce Kirkby and asked to take the NOW challenge.

The production works beforehand with spouses and bosses to clear their schedules, explains showrunner Barry Davis (Accident Investigator). If they agree to participate, they are swept away for 72 hours to do what most frightens them.

‘We put two people together with similar fears, but they aren’t competing with each other, they end up supporting each other and developing quite a special bond,’ he says.

When sifting through the applications, the producers kept an eye out for the most engaging stories, says Davis. ‘It’s not enough that someone is afraid of flying. We are interested in people who have a goal and something they want to achieve. We want to capture their transformation as they realize that their fear is their own construction and they can move it or leap over it.’

Contestants don’t receive any prizes for completing the NOW challenge.

Elliott says the series was an extremely tough sell to broadcasters. ‘I met with every executive at every channel in this country. It was very frustrating.’ Elliott, also the producer of the upcoming eight-part series The Second City’s Next Comedy Legend, believes the subject matter was too positive. ‘I think we’ve gone through a period of making kind of cynical television. So it was a question of having a great idea at the wrong time.’

Kirstine Layfield, executive director of network programming for CBC, and her colleague Julie Bristow, who heads up the factual entertainment division at the pubcaster, loved her idea immediately, says Elliott. ‘The mood in the room was electric. They really got it. They didn’t want to turn it into another version of Fear Factor.’

Elliott is convinced the show will be a hit with Canadian audiences. ‘Whenever I walk down the street with Phil Keoghan, he gets mobbed. People love him. People are hungry for this kind of reality show.’

‘No Opportunity Wasted premieres in October and is produced by NOW Canada Productions, a Suddenly SeeMore…Productions company.