Channel 4 denies that Sir Bradley Wiggins is leaving The Jump
The Olympic cyclist hurt his already-damaged ankle on Sunday, but apparently he’s sticking around
Channel 4 has denied reports that celebrated cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins is pulling out of The Jump, following reports that his recent ankle injury had been aggravated during competition on Sunday’s launch show.
Apparently the 36-year-old athlete, who previously admitted on Instagram that he’d injured himself, complained of a torn calf muscle after narrowly defeating comedian Mark Dolan in the parallel ski slalom, saying he was unable to put his ski boot back on and hinted that he wasn’t sure if he’d be back to the Daily Star.
However, a Channel 4 spokesperson assures RadioTimes.com that Wiggins is still in the competition and preparing for next Sunday's episode.
“Bradley has received treatment for an injury to his leg but he remains in the competition,” they said.
Wiggins’ injury is one of many to plague the winter sports reality series over the years, with seven celebrities forced to drop out last year alone due to accidents on the slopes. This year, Irish model Vogue Williams was forced to leave the contest before it even began after hurting her knee, and was replaced by model Amy Willerton.
Still, losing Wiggins would be a high price to pay for Channel 4; the cycling champ is the show's highest-profile contestant this year, contributing to higher viewing figures for its launch show compared with the previous run (2.4 million versus 2.3 in 2016).
So it’s fingers crossed that he can keep moving forward without doing himself more damage. Good thing he retired from cycling, eh?
The Jump continues on Channel 4 this Sunday at 7.30pm
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
