Celebrity contestants on Channel 4 ski game show The Jump have been censured for not wearing ski helmets, opting instead for fashion headgear, or simply nothing at all.
Hairdresser Nicky Clarke and socialite Henry Conway were seen practising on an artificial ski slope during the first episode of The Jump without wearing ski helmets. Mr Conway, 31, who is the son of disgraced Tory MP Derek Conway, was seen wearing a black fur hat while on the training slope in the UK, whilst Mr Clarke, 55, let his famous tresses hang out. During the programme, shown on Sunday night, Mr Clarke said that he liked to ‘feel the wind in my hair’, which Mr Conway said: ‘I’m hoping to bring some style and sophistication to the slopes as everyone needs a bit of winter glamour.’
But a spokesperson for Headway, the brain injury charity, said that contestants should have set a better example: ‘Ski helmets offer vital protection to all skiers – whether novices on dry slopes here in the UK, or vastly experienced skiers going off-piste. To those who suggest they prefer to feel the wind in their hair rather than wearing a helmet, we would simply suggest they speak to (someone) who felt the same way until they sustained a brain injury in a fall.
The programme aired just weeks after the high profile ski accident that left former F1 champion Michael Schumacher in a critical condition. Schumacher was wearing a helmet that is thought to have saved his life.
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