An Arbroath fitness instructor has spoken of her disappointment that her appearance on popular ITV show Ninja Warrior didn’t make the final cut.
However, 23-year-old Lois Simpson said the chance to take on the challenging assault course was a great experience.
Lois applied for the show by sending in a video of her workouts in the gym and then passed a physical audition in May.
She then had a nervous wait for a month until she was told that she was one of the 220 people out of 35,000 who applied to be selected for the show, which sees people try to complete a course of five physical challenges before trying to successfully run up “the wall”.
“I watch the TV show every year and I spontaneously thought I’d give it a go,” said Lois.
“I was so excited to be told I’d made it to the show out of all the people who applied. When I was told the number of people who applied it gave me goosebumps.
“Filming took place in Manchester in August. They film for a whole week and set up a different course every day.
“I was in the final heat on the Friday and a lot of the producers said it was the hardest course to complete.
“The day started at 11am and I didn’t run until about 8.30pm and I was so nervous by then. It’s filmed in front of a big crowd.”
Lois, who had previously trained for the show with a specialist instructor in Gloucester, added: “I was one of the people who got the furthest on the course on my day.
“I fell at the last one before the wall and was buzzing with how well I’d done. I thought I’d have a good chance of making the television.
“The producers did warn us that not everyone would make the final cut but that’s been a bit disappointing, especially since everyone’s been asking me when I’m going to be on.”
Despite not making the television screens Lois said she had a great time testing herself with the course and plans to reapply this year.
“I’ve never seen a television show made before, so it was really interesting,” she added.
“After I fell a camera went right into my face to capture my reaction.
“It was a great experience and I’ll definitely be applying to take part again and hopefully make it all the way up the wall next time.”
