NINJA WARPATH!
FAMILIES FURIOUS OVER ‘APPALLING’ TREATMENT AT FILMING OF TV SHOW
DOZENS of families have been left furious after queueing for hours in the sweltering heat to watch the filming of a hit TV show.
Parents said they were forced to wait up to three hours in 29C sun for the grand final of Ninja Warrior UK in Manchester. Crowds were promised an ‘afternoon of excitement’ and ITV show contestants would face each other and ‘the Ninjas’ in head-to-head races at Manchester Central.
However, children watched in ‘total disbelief’ as four of the finalists climbed a rope, with none of the contestants racing each other on the course.
Bosses for the programme – hosted by Ben Shephard, Chris Kamara and Rochelle Humes – were hit by 29 complaints from fed-up ticketholders.
Lynda Ashton described the event as ‘appalling’ and said that some of those in attendance could not even see the rope climb.
She told the M.E.N.: “What happened was just an absolute disgrace.
“Briefly, all the taping consisted of, was the two female and two male finalists of the series climbing a rope. The whole thing lasted maybe 15 minutes. No one actually took on the whole course and because of the size of the venue, you couldn’t even see the rope climb.
“This was after queueing in the heat for the best part of three hours, queueing for another hour inside, as the morning session had overrun and when people realised what little they were actually going to see, many people left the venue in disgust.
“We, as well as many other people, have wasted a lot of time and money to get there for the day, we’ve lost a day’s leave from work and have come away feeling very angry and frustrated.”
Other ticket holders took to Twitter to vent their anger.
@OHareEmma said: “Utter disgrace! Kids are heartbroken and I am out of pocket! Those kids deserve priority tickets to the next season!”
SRO Audiences, which issued tickets, sent an email to ticket holders to apologise on behalf of production team Potato.
In the email, which has been seen by the M.E.N., a company spokesman confirmed that 29 negative emails had been received by the company about the event and apologised ‘on behalf of the production.’
“We are now adding a priority note to the record of each ticket holder who attended the final show today so that on the next occasion you book tickets with us, we shall make them priority tickets where these are available.”
A spokesman for production company Potato said: “The Ninja Warrior UK team are sincerely disappointed that a small number of audience members at yesterday’s final did not enjoy their experience.”
They added: “We absolutely take on board the comments and is something we will factor in in the future. The producers offer their unreserved apology and assurance that they will work closely with their partners on Ninja Warrior UK to address audience complaints as quickly as possible.”