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The Jump: Really?

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29 February 2016

By Alex Khalil

So Channel 4’s The Jump has just dropped its latest star Beth Tweddle, following a neck injury.

Can we talk about this for a moment?

It’s one thing to go on TV, and get paid thousands for smiling into a camera; that’s fine. But, when it comes to – for want of a better word – pretending to be an athlete in a sport you aren’t familiar with, that’s when it becomes a problem.

Olympic winter sports athletes train for years, up until the point of the jump, or going down that slope. The people on the show train for six weeks.

Six weeks.

The equivalent of a school term in summer.

Look at how many injuries there have been so far.

Successful gymnast Beth Tweddle, aged 30, needed neck surgery.

Former Olympic swimming champ Rebecca Adlington, 26, withdrew after dislocating her shoulder. DISLOCATING HER SHOULDER.

Holby City actress Hobley, aged 44, was also sent home after a dislocated elbow, and suffering two fractures to her arm. TWO FRACTURES. AT AGE 44! That kind of damage at that age has to have a long-term impact, surely.

Made in Chelsea actor (if you can call it that) Mark-Francis Vandelli, 26, pulled out after fracturing his ankle.

And finally, 1992 Olympic 100m champ Lindford Christie pulled out after he failed to recover from a hamstring injury in time for the show’s start.

That’s five people in the space of three months. If the show’s producers had any sense, they would see this as a sign, and cut the show before someone is hurt beyond repair.

There is a certain insanity that comes with this, doing the same thing over and over, training celebrities so they just make the cut, then being shocked and appalled when they injure themselves.

Luckily, Tweddle has been discharged from hospital and is recovering well.

Does anyone even watch this? Has there been a single episode out yet?

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