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From pop to prıme tıme
The Saturdays’ Rochelle Humes tells how her presenting career’s taken off since she put her band on hold – and why her Ninja Warrior UK show’s become such a cult hit
She’s a bona fide pop star and one of primetime TV’s hot test young presenters, but Rochelle Humes says her favourite job is co-hosting the utterly bonkers Ninja Warrior UK. The extreme assault course game show is so jawdroppingly punishing that no contestant has managed to complete all the challenges in its first two series. ‘And this year it’s a million per cent tougher than before,’ says The Saturdays singer, who’s back with series three of the show alongside co-hosts Ben Shephard and ex-footballer turned
Sky Sports presenter Chris Kamara.
The US version of Ninja Warrior, which is based on a Japanese game show called Sasuke, was a huge hit in the States before a UK version was launched in 2015, pulling in up to six million viewers. The show’s contestants range from your average have-ago hero to extreme athletes. ‘We’re not the nation of couch potatoes we think we are,’ says Rochelle, 27. ‘It’s great to see what the country has to offer in terms of fitness and athleticism. We get so many people from different walks of life taking part – midwives, postmen, firemen. The beauty of the show is that you can be watching it on your sofa and think, “I’m going to have a go at this” and apply.’
Over the course of the series, 250 contestants (who are chosen from 30,000 applicants) must run, jump, climb and haul themselves over obstacles with such names as the Log Grip and the Warped Wall in a test of strength, agility and nerve. One false move and they drop into the water below. They’re whittled down over seven weeks until the last 15 compete in the eighth and final episode.
Despite the gruelling nature of the course, there’s no prize for the winner – just the honour and status of having beaten all-comers. And in the two UK series so far, not even the winner has managed the final challenge, Mount Midoriyama. To conquer this imposing tower, contestants must pull themselves 70ft up a rope – and within a time limit. It took seven series of the American version before someone did it, and in Japan only seven people have done it in 20 years.
Last year’s UK winner (or last man standing) Owen McKenzie has been invited back for the new series. He’s been joined by a number of family pairs, including twin sisters and twin brothers. ‘A lot of people think they can handle the course but they can’t, which is very amusing,’ smiles Rochelle. ‘You have to be mentally as well as physically unfazed. It’s very daunting. If you get any nerves on the day it all falls apart, and then all your training has been a waste. It’s not the ripped guys or gym bunny girls who do best, it’s those who ping around the course like monkeys. It’s agility you need, not massive muscles.’
The show’s popularity is down to its mix of inspirational determination and hilarious mishaps. Chris Kamara, famed for his excitable presenting style, offers the sporting analysis with Ben Shephard in the studio while Rochelle interviews contestants out on the course. ‘I do the “splash chat”, where I pick up the pieces of their ruined dreams when they’ve fallen off into the freezing water. So I get a lot of wet hugs and tears. The water looks lovely on TV, like a swimming pool, but it’s not – I feel the splash when it hits me, and it’s freezing cold.’
Ben’s had a go at the course, but Chris and Rochelle have yet to try. ‘Chris seems to conveniently have an injury every time there’s an opportunity to run the course so hasn’t had a go yet,’ says Rochelle. ‘I don’t have a good sense of balance and I’m not the lightest on my feet. I say I’m going to give it a go every year but haven’t yet.’ The main reason this year is that Rochelle’s expecting her second child with husband Marvin Humes, the former JLS singer. ‘I’m due the first week of March. It’s really exciting and I can’t wait. We knew Alaia-Mai, who’s three, was going to be a girl but we haven’t found out what we’re having this time. I thought, “I’ve got a little girl first of all and I can relax now as I was desperate for a girl.” Either she gets a sister or we get a son, it will be amazing either way.’
Acombination of cheeky humour and nat u ra l charm have landed Rochelle a string of presenting roles in recent years, and she and Marvin have become quite the golden couple, co- presenting ITV’s This Morning and more recently the BBC’s Children In Need. Rochelle also co-hosted X Factor spinoff The Xtra Factor with Melvin Odoom in 2015 and last year’s The Next Great Magician with Stephen Mulhern, while Marvin co- presented three series of The Voice UK with Emma Willis. Rochelle was already a pop veteran when she joined girl band The Saturdays with Frankie Bridge, Mollie King, Vanessa White and Una Healy in 2007, having been part of S Club Juniors (later called S Club 8), the tween spin-off of S Club 7, from 2001 to 2004. ‘We were formed through a TV search. I saw about the audition to sing at Wembley Arena on TV when I was 12,’ she recalls. ‘It was supposed to be a one-off where we supported S Club 7, but when I got to the audition with my mum, the manager Simon Fuller came in and said: “We want to make a band.” I remember saying to my mum, “If you don’t let me do this I’m never going to speak to you again.”
‘We had our own TV show, did a tour with S Club 7 and released three albums. It was mad. It just happened so quickly. I don’t remember a lot of it. It fizzled out when we weren’t juniors any more; we had boobs and curves.’ Rochelle was 18 in 2007 when she
uels, who finally set us up on a date. She used to say we’re like the male and female version of each other. It’s not just looks, it’s personality and the things we like. But I put it off for ages because I thought, “I’m not going out with someone in a boy band. He probably thinks he can get whoever he wants and fancies himself.” I was determined to be single and carefree.’
But her reluctance didn’t last long. In 2012, two years after their first date, they were married at Blenheim Palace. The couple now have to balance their burgeoning careers with their family. ‘We fit our work around the family on a week-to-week basis,’ she says. ‘But if it’s a day off, it’s a day off, and we make sure no one tries to squeeze any extra work in.’
Things will get tougher in March when baby number two arrives, so it’s just as well The Saturdays are on hold while they pursue their own solo projects. ‘It’s great to be stimulated in other ways as we’d been in each other’s pockets for years,’ says Rochelle. ‘And TV presenting is what I’d been doing since the age of 15. But presenting with Marvin has been fun as he’ll tell me off and I’ll tell him off. I’d presented Children In Need with the late Terry Wogan for the previous two years, so last year it was good to have Marvin with me as it took my mind off the fact Terry wasn’t there.’
She’s not missing the pop star sparkle then? ‘Not at all. It’s great to be doing other fun things – especially something as hilarious as Ninja Warrior UK. I’ve been working with girls for so many years and now I like presenting with the two guys, Ben and Chris. I’m like the princess!’ Ninja Warrior UK continues tonight at 7pm on ITV.
‘Am I missing the pop star sparkle? Not at all’