I’m 61 and a bit overweight but I’m off the sofa & if I can do it ...anyone can
Nick Knowles Star says facing fears and taking on new challenges is important
anyway. You have to push yourself and try new experiences.
“I’m a 61-yearold old bloke who’s got off the sofa, so if I can do it, anybody can.”
In his latest show, The Mighty Mississippi with Nick Knowles, which starts tonight on Channel 5, he follows the river from Minneway apolis all the way to New Orleans. En route he rides a Harleycords Davidson, records a song in the studio where Elvis started his career and, like US Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush, throws a ceremonial first pitch in front of a 46,000-seater stadium. He had never thrown a baseball before.
He also flew over the Mississippi in a helicopter, despite a crippling phobia of heights. Nick says: “Most of the time I am trying to hide my fear.
“I’ve done so many things at height on my shows that I have actually started to improve. It’s like immersion therapy.
“Sometimes I think, what the hell am I doing? Like zip lining across the Grand Canyon. But then I’m flying and it’s amazing. In this series I tried water skiing and I must have gone over about 20 times. A lot of the time I think what I’m hiding is that I’m not as brave as I sometimes make out. “But that’s an important message to my kids – take on your fears.” Nick likes to go on adventures with his nine-year-old son Eddie, from his marriage to (second) ex-wife Jessica Moore, 26 years his junior.
He says: “I’m a terrible surfer but I go surfing with him. We do some kayaking and adventure stuff like climbing. It’s incumbent on us to make sure that our kids don’t spend all their time on computer games and go out and do physical things as well. I think that’s a really really important thing.”
Nick reveals he had many “pinch me” moments doing the latest series – but mainly riding a Harley.
He says: “When I got on the bike, I couldn’t stop smiling.”
Nick proposed to business owner Katie in July with a gummy bear sweet but said wedding plans are on the back burner as they have both been very busy. Indeed, he has no plans to slow down, his travel shows in Patagonia and Mongolia, which he is really proud of, are due to air soon.
He says: “I’ve been in TV 40 years this year, and I think this is some of the best work I’ve ever been involved with.
“I feel incredibly blessed the audience have travelled with me in the different things I’ve done, whether it be DIY SOS and the building programmes, or when I wrote a movie or a drama series, or when I did Saturday night quiz shows for 12 years.”
■ The Mighty Mississippi, tonight and tomorrow, Channel 5, 9pm.
WITH a massive grin on his face, Nick Knowles says he feels like an Easy Rider as he heads out on a Harley-Davidson along the banks of the Mississippi River.
And that’s before he throws a pitch at a baseball game or records a song in the studio where Elvis began his career.
This is the TV presenter’s latest travel adventure, as he endeavours to follow the mighty river from Minneapolis in the north all the way south to New Orleans.
Following the Great River Road, Nick explores the river’s tragic past through its connection to slavery and its role in the civil rights movement.
On the way though, there is plenty of excitement as he joins an anti-outlaw motorbike gang, tries out water-skiing (a sport invented on this waterway), and visits a trailblazing Native American restaurant that has moose, elk and huckleberries on the menu.
Nick confronts his fear of heights with a helicopter ride and later joins efforts to conserve the American paddlefish – a species that’s even older than the dinosaurs.
He visits the birthplace of Samuel Clemens, best known to us as author Mark Twain, and a museum gives a sobering insight into the real lives of enslaved people along the Mississippi.
In St Louis, Nick prepares to watch a Major League Baseball game, but the St Louis Cardinals have a surprise for him.
Following in the footsteps of Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush, he’s invited to throw a ceremonial first pitch.
In a 46,000-seater stadium – and having never thrown a baseball in his life – it’s a nerve-racking affair.
Concludes tomorrow night.