The Wanted’s Tom Parker to replace Tina Hobley on The Jump
Tom has been in training with this year’s celebs as a stand-in and will now join as a full-time competitor
Former The Wanted singer Tom Parker has been drafted in to replace Tina Hobley on The Jump.
Hobley has been forced to withdraw from the competition after dislocating her elbow and suffering two fractures while practicing ski jumping. We understand the accident involved a mishap with a member of production who was in the landing area at the time.
Parker has been in Austria with the competitors training as a stand-in, alongside former Hollyoaks actress Gemma Merna. Actress Louisa Lytton, who was eliminated last week, is also technically a stand-in this week. It was thought she would be the first to be called back in if someone had to drop out, but that now looks unlikely as she’s already sporting a hand cast from an injury earlier in training.
I spoke to Parker while in Austria and, while he said he wouldn’t be happy about entering the competition because someone else was injured, he certainly seemed keen to take on the challenges the show has to offer, telling me he was enjoying the training.
The show, now in its third series, is often forced to turn to its stand-ins as a result of injuries. The first series was eventually won by X Factor champ Joe McElderry who’d been called away from his own ski holiday to take part.
We're still waiting on news of Rebecca Adlington, who dislocated her shoulder in training for the first show. While she appeared in the series launch, this Sunday's live Ski Cross event is full of body contact, so it remains to be seen whether she'll compete. The remaining stand-ins best keep up the training.
The Jump continues this Sunday 7:30pm on Channel 4
