The Jump's Mike Tindall: I couldn’t face my baby daughter if I didn’t try the highest jump
“I would be devastated if I came away and I hadn’t done the biggest one,” says the former rugby pro who’s in it to win it
Former England rugby team captain Mike Tindall is ready and raring to go ahead of this year’s Channel 4 reality show The Jump – and he's feeling pretty confident when it comes to scaling the heights of the contest's ski jumps.
“Without a doubt I will do the biggest one,” Tindall says of the three options on offer in Austria. Having stood at the top of said highest jump, the K40, I can personally confirm it is knee-wobblingly high. Not that the ‘small one’ looks particularly dainty either.
The celebs do get to choose which height of ski jump they lob themselves from – but Tindall's already made his mind up.
“I would be devastated if I came away and I hadn’t done the biggest one,” he continues, admitting, “I wouldn’t be able to go and look my baby daughter in the eye.”
The celebrity contestants – which this year also include former TOWIE star Joey Essex and Gogglebox's Dom Parker – only actually face the live ski jump if they're at the bottom of the scoreboard after that day’s challenge. This ranges from speed skating to bobsleigh via skeleton and parallel slalom. And, when it comes to his rivals, former rugby player Tindall has certainly retained his competitive streak...
“I think with this one, I’ll probably be looking to win,” the sportsman reveals. While he adds for the most part it’s really a competition with himself – to see what he can really do – he jokes, “I know I’ll be eyeing up who’s good at what, and figure out what I need to do to beat them.”
And he’s got a score to settle with fellow sportsman Phil Tufnell, who's also hitting the slopes:
“Last time we had a competition, he beat me. That was at darts.”
