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Celebrity Showjumping

Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox and comedienne Ruby Wax are among 12 stars saddling up for the BBC's celebrity showjumping contest.

Only Fools On Horses is taking place as part of Sport Relief.

Former Olympic athlete Sally Gunnell, TV presenters Jenni Falconer and Suzi Perry, and Changing Rooms designer Anna Ryder-Richardson complete the female line-up.

The male riders will be Blue Peter's Matt Baker, Dragon's Den star Duncan Bannatyne, comedian Felix Dexter, gardener Diarmuid Gavin, Hollyoaks actor Matt Littler and actor Paul Nicholas.

They will have a few weeks of training to turn them into professional showjumpers.

During a nine-day competition beginning on July 7 they will take part in a jump-off in front of a live audience.

The grand final will take place on BBC One's Night of Sport Relief on July 15.

For the duration of the contest, the celebrities will live at the stables in Braintree, Essex, where they will have to muck out their horses.

BBC controller of entertainment commissioning Jon Beazley said: "It's great news that these 12 celebrities are giving their time for no fee to help raise money for Sport Relief. It's a big commitment, spending over a week living on site with the horses and working with them all day before the show is on air each night.

"They have been training hard already, and it's been particularly tough for the ones who can't already ride or haven't ridden a horse for years. This will be a real test for all of them and we're looking forward to an exhilarating show." waveguide

Angus Deayton Hosts Horses Show

Angus Deayton and Kirsty Gallacher are to take up the reins of Sport Relief presents... Only Fools on Horses starting Friday July 7.

The duo will present the nightly shows on BBC One with Gallacher talking to each of the celebrity show jumpers before they compete and Deayton fielding the judges' verdict on each jumper's performance.

Angus Deayton said: "When it comes to horses my love of them stops at nothing. Most of my attempts at riding have ended up with an inability to walk properly for about a fortnight."

Kirsty Gallacher said: "I'm thrilled to be playing a part in Sport Relief, it's a fantastic cause and this is set to be such an exciting show. The competitors are very brave to rise to the challenge and I'm sure the weeks of intensive training will pay off, I can't wait to see them in action." waveguide

Only Celebs and Horses

She may have won a gold medal in the Olympic Games for hurdling but Sally Gunnell crashed into a hurdle as she trained for the BBC's celebrity show-jumping contest.

Retired athlete Gunnell, 39, is one of 12 names, including Sara Cox and Ruby Wax, who have signed up to train for BBC1's Only Fools on Horses.

Dragon Den's star Duncan Bannatyne was replaced by Pop Idol's Nikki Chapman after fracturing his elbow.

Actor and theatre producer Paul Nicholas, 61, the oldest of the contestants, also suffered a bad fall and ended up with a back injury.

Comedian Felix Dexter pulled out of the show, which is being made to raise money for next month's Sport Relief, after hurting his back in a fall and has been replaced by TV presenter Josie D'Arby.

Showjumper Tim Stockdale, who will be training the stars, told Radio Times: "We're getting falls on a regular basis. We're starting to jump bigger jumps, so things can go wrong.

"The point is these are living creatures. They don't care that their riders are celebs and they'll do what they want to do."

The other celebrities include Blue Peter's Matt Baker, Hollyoaks actor Matt Littler, GMTV presenter Jenni Falconer, MotoGP presenter Suzi Perry and former Changing Rooms host Anna Ryder-Richardson.

There will be a live jump-off every night on BBC One followed by a viewer and riders' vote which will result in contestants getting unsaddled. The last four celebrities will go head-to-head on the Sport Relief show on July 15 on BBC One. waveguide

FALLING AT FIRST FENCE

ONLY Fools ON Horses. What a clever play on words! And what a remarkably repetitive show. Smug host Angus Deayton did his best to inject some interest into the equestrian equivalent of Groundhog Day as celebrity rider after rider went through exactly the same routine over and over again.

But even Deayton's "dry" humour failed to save a programme that, frankly, fell at the first hurdle. After his triumph as Soccer Aid's answer to Theo Walcott, Gus was back on the charidee trail delivering the kind of witty quips for which he is renowned.

"This is our arena," he deadpanned, "where 12 celebrities - some of whom four weeks ago could barely mount a horse let alone get on one - are about to tackle the biggest challenge of their lives."

Funny, eh? But to be fair to the poor bloke, he was only trying to liven up the paltry proceedings as the likes of DJ Sara Cox, TV gardener Diarmuid Gavin, Changing Rooms' Anna Ryder Richardson and 60-year-old actor Paul Nicholas cantered around the show jumping course to raise money for Sport Relief.

Ruby Wax mysteriously announced that her horse, Mr Kenneth Fudge - nicknamed The Fudgemeister - had "a big fan base in Brighton".

The American funnygirl stumbled to the worst score of the night - until Hollyoaks legend Matt Littler delivered a genuinely entertaining moment when he plummeted from his steed Fibi.

There's another week of this BBC tedium yet to go. And believe me, it's going to be a long, long ride. Sundaymirror

I liked it - even though I'd never heard of half the people on it.