In the programme Hopkins travels to Easington in County Durham, the setting for the film 'Billy Elliott' and one of the most deprived areas in Britain, to see if he can help the declining community.
Hopkins grew up on a tough council estate on the outskirts of Leeds and dreamed of escaping the confines of the area. He said that his own determination and drive have made him successful and now he is ready to help someone else.
Hopkins said: "As a young kid ... I used to want someone to come round that corner and help me and no one ever did so I thought this might be a good way of being the person that goes round that corner."
Hopkins retired as chairman of JDA last year to pursue several other initiatives. He spent his entire career at the company, joining straight from art school when it was set up in 1984.
From 1999 to 2000 he led a management buyout with the media director and finance director. In his five years as managing director, turnover increased from £9.5m to £19.6m and profits tripled to £750,000.
Hopkins stepped up to become chairman in 2005 and from October 2006 to May 2007 he worked closely with Martin Smith, chief executive of Millennium Direct, on merging into his newly formed Direct Marketing Group.
In Tuesday's programme Hopkins goes undercover as a community warden and explores the area and the site of the old pit.
He begins to worry that his help may be too little too late saying: "Is this a town that has a future or is it a town living in the shadow of its past? I don't like victims, I really fucking hate that, because we could all do that, the world is not a nice cosy cuddly place, this is not a nice cosy cuddly place, but it's about how people react to that that's really important."
He is quickly accepted by the local community and despite its problems finds that the town has not lost touch with its mining past and many of the touchstones of traditional colliery life have remained intact.
Hopkins' mission leads him to the Easington Colliery brass band, which still takes part in competitions across the country, but after losing its main sponsor is struggling to see a future.
During his time in Easington, Hopkins realises that despite having all the trappings of a millionaire lifestyle he's stuck behind his electric gates and barely knows his own neighbours.
At the end of his 10-day mission Hopkins decides to give something back to the community that has welcomed him so warmly.
'The Secret Millionaire', now in its third series, is delivering strong ratings for Channel 4. It was the most watched programme in the 9pm-10pm slot last Tuesday with 4.2m viewers.
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