A new set of celebrities are taking a leap of faith
As the temperature drops and we wish away the cold months, more than ready for our annual trip to sunnier climes, there is one good thing to come out of a miserable, bleak February – the return of The Jump, Sunday, Channel 4, 7pm, and the lovely Davina McCall with it.
Rumours have been circulating for a while now about which celebrities would be brave enough to tackle the slopes in an attempt to take the Cowbell Trophy from last year’s winner former X Factor winner Joe McElderry, but the 16 brave souls have now been confirmed.
They are Ashley Roberts, Chloe Madeley, Dom Parker, Heather Mills, JB Gill, Jodie Kidd, Joey Essex, Jon-Allan Butterworth, Lady Victoria Hervey, Louie Spence, Louise Hazel, Louise Thompson, Mike Tindall, Phil Tufnell, Stacey Solomon and Steve-O, and they’re all being sent to the Austrian Alps to see how they fair. If you’re wondering where Sally Bercow and Ola Jordan are in the line-up, unfortunately the women had to pull out of the competition due to injury…
This is the second series of the white-knuckle winter sports competition, but for the uninitiated, presenter Davina sums up rather nicely what the programme is about. She explained ahead of its freshman series last year: “Picture the scene… you’re depressed, New Year’s Eve has been and gone, you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolutions and your feeling really bad about yourself. What you need to do is sit down in front of the television and watch an entertainment programme that will have you clenching your buttocks so hard that you won’t need to visit the gym for a month!”
It was a no-brainer for Davina when she was asked if she wanted to be involved in the show, as she explains: “When I met with the production company, they showed me a taster tape of all the sports the competitors are going to do and some footage of people who weren’t experts trying to do the sports too. I laughed so hard and I thought oh my god I have to present this show.”
In the first episode, the men tackle the skeleton, but will they impress their coaches Winter Olympians Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards, Graham Bell, Amy Williams and Jenny Jones, and do enough to avoid the double elimination that’s being thrown at them immediately?
Cherry Healey can be found over on E4 in The Jump – On the Piste, and will be bringing all the behind-the-scenes action.