The program features a celebrity guest presenter each week surprising ordinary Australians with a holiday, and the destination is then profiled.

[1] The title of the show, "no leave, no life" was an Australian tourism campaign slogan.

The program premiered during the summer non-ratings period on Saturday 5 December 2009 at 6:30pm.

The program returned for a second season on 4 December 2010 with James Tobin as the new host.

It was also announced Tim Ross would become the new host for the seven-episode run, which began on 3 December 2011 in its traditional Saturday 6:30pm timeslot.