Let’s be honest, we were all surprised (and delighted) when The Jump came back for another series this year; celebrities flying off ski jumps and racing down an ice chute at ridiculous speeds tends to come with a side dish of injuries – much to our entertainment. However, rather than wrapping the contestants up in bubble wrap and cotton wool this year, the producers did quite the opposite; this year’s changes made it far more interesting. So, I have whittled my favourite parts of this year’s series down to my top 5…
1) The All New Live Events
The Jump is (bravely) filmed live on Jump Mountain, purpose built for Channel 4 in Kühtai in the Austrian Alps. It runs with a mere 15 minute delay, leaving very little time to deal with any accidents that will inevitably or hopefully occur, because after all, it’s their pain, our gain! The show has 3 medics and 1 physio standing by, just in case – so no pressure then for the contestants! Adding the new Snow Cross track has been thoroughly entertaining; three celebrities fighting their way down a cramped snow slope at night, what more could you want? There was plenty of ankle grabbing and face planting! On top of this, due to the problem of contestants dropping out due to injuries last year, Channel 4 have introduced a ‘subs bench’. Much like football, the first two celebrities from both men’s and women’s to lose can get called back into the games (just when they thought they’d escaped) if someone drops out because of injury. You can almost feel the tension from that bench.
2) Extravagant Eliminator – Air Jump
If you thought last year’s eliminator wasn’t tough enough, the brand new ‘Air Jump’ determines who stays and who goes. The aim of the challenge is for the celebs to get as much air (technical mumbo-jumbo for height) as possible, by simply propelling themselves down a 100 metre in-run and skiing off a four and a half metre kicker (upward slope) and hopefully landing safely onto a giant airbag. The faster they go the easier it is for them to catapult off the kicker cleanly… Sounds easy, right? Although the airbag has the resemblance of a giant bouncy castle, it definitely isn’t a party for the contestants. Hilariously, before they take part they receive several warnings, essentially saying don’t let the skis break your legs and don’t land head first and snap your neck. A terrifying way for the contestants to ‘fly’ away from the competition.
3) Davina McCall
Since Big Brother we have all had a soft spot for Davina as a reality TV show presenter. Embracing the chilly temperatures, Davina stays as cool as a cucumber as she smoothly covers one of the most extravagant and unpredictable reality shows to grace our screens. Aside from the constant threat of injuries to those famous faces, she has to deal with boozy celebs in the Jump Lodge enjoying the après ski a little too much and people swearing within ear shot of the camera (Dom – oops!). She also works the salopettes far too well.
4) The Best Round-Up Of Celebrities Yet
This year trumped all previous line-ups, bringing us a star studded list of contestants who never failed to entertain. The icing on the cake is that they are jumping even further than last year! Mike Tindall’s first attempt at the ski jump was 18 metres, beating the last year’s record jump of 17.5 metres and he was only on the middle jump – he could put Eddie the Eagle to shame on the biggest one! Although, it’s not all about their snow skills; that would be no fun! Louie Spence, the man in pink, gave us all a fair few laughs throughout the series, especially when he performed his very own rugby Hakka before his race against Mike Tindall in the Skeleton. But when he ended up actually beating him after Mike boldly stated ‘Nah, he’s not scary’ – well, that was a shocker in itself. I don’t think any of us will forget his face when he found out the results…
5) The Booze, The Laughs, The Excitement
To be honest, the atmosphere itself is what makes the programme so fun and distinct from other programmes. Of course celebs chucking themselves down icy slopes is hilarious, but they all seem to be having such a great time doing it. There’s no deep and meaningful transformations and lessons, no talk of the journey they have been through to get to where they are now, no… just pure entertainment. I look forward to next year’s series!
Edited by Georgina Varley
Sources:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/the-jump-2015-li…
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/02/02/the-jump-louie-spence-mike-ti…