10 October 2023 , 14:09
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Chris Hughes has recalled the physical impact training for a new TV show had on his body ahead of later on a daunting challenge later this month.
The former Love Island star, 30, is one of the nine celebrities preparing to tackle a never-before-attempted feat: high wire walking across a yet-to-be-revealed iconic London landmark this week. Chris, alongside stars like soap legend Beverley Callard, Olympic champion cyclist Victoria Pendleton and host Paddy McGuinness, spent time in Austria training ahead of the challenge.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror alongside his teammate Fats Timbo last month, Chris detailed the "emotionally taxing" and "traumatic" challenges he and his fellow celebrities had endured over the last few weeks and opened up about the emotional impact training had on him.
"Fats' a trailblazer. I love her," Chris began when chatting next to his fellow Don't Look Down star. "I've done a few shows and this has probably been probably the most emotionally rewarding shows I've ever been on. You'd think it would be draining but it's been so fascinating and I think it's going to make enthralling television.
The Don't Look Up Team at their training camp in the Austrian Alps (Channel 4)Gushing about the group's close bond, Chris continued: "It's hard to be away in environments where you get so emotionally worked up and there's so many other factors are coming into your life which physically and emotionally affect you, but I'm doing this with a great group of people.
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"The way we start together as a group... we're all here for each other and big each other up because we know how hard it is for each individual. Everybody's phobia is slightly different and we're all individuals here but we've always got each other. We all know each other - we've been here three weeks. We all have our own story. We all bring our own thing to the table and we respect each other for that. It's a great team honestly just to be away with for three weeks with these people you couldn't have picked nine better people promise."
The training in Austria wasn't always so enjoyable for Chris, with the reality TV star veteran suffering with terrible attitude sickness when first arriving at the camp - with doctors having to sign him off for a few days.
"The first three days I was struggling to come to terms with the environment that we're in and I was going to bed at night and I was like 'I feel like I can't breathe properly'. The doctor who looks after us told me how it was coming to terms with the environment and everything around us.
Chris Hughes
Fats Timbo"I've never been skiing and stuff so being 2200 feet metres or whatever it was above sea level, that's different. I can genuinely feel the physical effects of spending a lot of time up here. I can feel myself breathe easier when I'm at the bottom of the hill but when you get back up here, it's like the oxygen is thicker - everything is tougher."
Don't Look Down begins on Channel 4 this evening and over the course of five episodes, viewers will follow the famous faces as they complete a training camp in the Austrian Alps, put through their paces by the world’s foremost authorities in high wire walking. Harnesses at the ready, the gang are thrown in the deep end to try and conquer their fears through a string of physically and mentally demanding exercises and stunts designed to transform them from total beginners to those capable of scaling great heights.
The training has has a positive impact on all the stars, with comedian and content creator Fats sharing how the experience has encouraged her to "want to do scarier things in life" now. "I've been holding myself back my whole life because I'm thinking 'I can't do it. I'm not good enough, this world isn't built for me..
"Because I've always had those thoughts, it's held me back. But I know now, as long as something is adapted for me, then I can do it and there's nothing holding me back. Someone said something which put things into perspective - if you speak to someone with cancer and ask them if they'd rather have chemo and do a challenge where you dangle over a ledge, they'd pick the challenge. So that that put things into perspective for me - lets just do it!
Don’t Look Down on Channel 4, stream and watch live from Tuesday 10th October at 9.15pm