Louie Spence on The Jump: “I keep landing in the splits”
The dancer may be falling, but he’s falling with style...
With just eight hours of skiing experience under his belt, professional dancer Louie Spence packed his bags (with his pink lycra, naturally) and made his way to Austria to compete in Channel 4’s The Jump. He’s falling over - he got shoved down a red run on only his second day - but he’s falling with style.
“I keep landing in the splits!” Louie laughs to RadioTimes.com, fresh from another day out on the slopes. “When you go down you’re supposed to be in a ‘V’,” he explains of the way you move your feet to slow down. “My ‘V’ just kept going every time; I’m doing box splits with skis on the end!”
While Louie is really rather loving the lycra - “Oh darling, I’m loving the lycra and all of the boys in their lycra” - he’s taking the risks seriously.
“You just think about everything in your life,” he explains of tackling the actual ski jump, which determines who’s eliminated from each show, based on the length of their jumps. “I think about my husband, my family, my dog, my house. You do! I’ve fallen ten times and I’m lucky. You could seriously hurt yourself!”
“I could damage myself so much that I never walk again,” Louie continues, saying, “Is any entertainment programme worth that?”
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So what on earth made him sign up? A fancy holiday in Austria was part of it he jokes as well as it being a “nice challenge”. He also thought he’d have “the balls” for the challenge. Although admits, “I’ve never done anything so frightening in my life!”
In fact, it’s the girls with the guts, Louie admits.
“The girls have got bigger balls than the boys; they’re dragging on the floor. A girl could win easily. They are fearless. Especially the ones that have given birth; they’re like, ‘I’ve given birth, I can do this!’”
But there must still be a part of him that thinks he’s in with a chance? Get a few elbows out, knock a couple of the others out mid-way through a race…
“Listen babes, if I win, it’d be on a wing and a prayer.”
