Wrestlers told to grin and bare it
Celebrity athletes fumed about their bum deal - after reality TV producers dismissed a plea to swap revealing loincloths for sturdier underwear in a sumo clash.
Male competitors on Channel 4's Olympic-style series The Games protested furiously at the decision to dress them in traditional mawashi belts, but were told to "grin and bare it" by programme chiefs.
Ex-Red Dwarf star Craig Charles, Bread actor Jonathon Morris, Liberty X singer Kevin Simm and Brookside's Philip Olivier led complaints to bosses, with only former pop heartthrob Chesney Hawkes happy to don the nappy-style garb.
The singer laughed at the prospect and told his colleagues: "It's going to make amazing TV tonight."
A spokesman for The Games said: "The men protested to producers about the outfits and asked if they could wear proper underwear, as some competitors are now allowed to do in Japan.
"We told them to get on with it and explained there was a nation of females waiting to see Chesney's cheeks.
"There was some revealing action when the heats got under way this afternoon."
The men later squared up in a traditional dohyo, or ring, at the English Institute of Sport for a series of bouts, with Hawkes and Charles left at the bottom of the heap.
Both competitors will face further humiliation as they take part in a live re-match during tonight's televised show.
Female entrants were more modestly attired as they honed their cycling skills with National Track coach Geoff Cooke ahead of a 600 metre race
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