‘Everyone is flirting on the show’
Injuries have always overshadowed romances on The Jump – but with so many male athletes competing, Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas reckons the female celebs are using their womanly charms to try to get an advantage. He smiles: “The girls are flirting with the guys in a way to make them weak so they think, ‘I’ll let her win this time as she’s a nice person.’ “There’s this flirtatious side to everybody, and there’s a lot of competitiveness and peacocks walking around fluffing their feathers! But we’re having fun. To say you’ve competed against some of these amazing sportspeople is phenomenal. They want to test their limits and hearing about people getting injured intrigues them rather than scares them off.”
However Gareth, 42, who revealed he was gay in 2009 and split from his wife Jemma, says reality star Spencer Matthews rates his chances the highest, revealing: ”Spencer has got his money on himself. He realises if he wants to be the best – and he’s very competitive – then he has to put the playboy image and Champagne to one side. It’d be great bragging rights for the rest of his life if he beat Olympic champions!”
The Jump starts on Sun 5 Feb, C4, 7.30pm