Her Majesty is probably not amused. Her granddaughter Zara Phillips’ husband Mike Tindall has just revealed he has taken part in his second reality TV show, despite landing himself in hot water for alleged drug references he made during his first small-screen debut. Last week, Mike was the runner-up in the British TV show The Jump, in which UK celebrities competed against each other in winter sports like ski jumping and bobsleigh. He made headlines after apparently suggesting one of the other contestants – Jackass star Steve-O, who has a history of drug abuse – should snort a handful of snow as if it were cocaine. He was filmed pointing towards the snow, saying, “Steve-O, sort it out”– and then heard making a sniffing sound.
The comments earned a huge backlash on social media but Mike’s agent claimed he was joking about something that had happened earlier. Meanwhile, if the Queen was less than impressed with the former rugby star’s appearance on The Jump, she now has to wait until later in the year to see what he gets up to in his next reality TV show. Called Mission Survive, it features Mike and seven other famous Brits taking part in a Bear Grylls survival challenge in Central America and has already been filmed.
Zara’s husband Mike has probably upset the Queen by signing up to another reality show.
Mike (36) doubts his escapades will be must-see TV for the Queen. When asked if she would be tuning in to The Jump, the former England rugby captain said, “I probably reckon not.” But he has revealed that contrary to rumour, he and Zara (33) don’t have to ask permission from the royals to do reality TV.
Comments Mike Tindall made on reality TV show ‘The Jump’ caused a huge backlash on social media.
“No, another lie,” he says. “They’re separate from us. We run our own life.” But they do think about how what they do will reflect on Zara’s family – to a point. “That would always come up, yes, of course, but ultimately it’s what we want to do first.” And reality TV is something he has become interested in, although it has to be the right show. He wouldn’t do Celebrity Big Brother and both he and Zara have turned down offers to appear on Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC’s version of Dancing with the Stars, although Mike is not ruling that out indefinitely. Mike says one of the reasons he did Mission Survive – which involves abseiling down waterfalls and wading through swamps while contending with snakes – was because it was different to anything he’d ever done, and challenging. “You always think you are going to be a manly man until you are put in a situation where you have to be a manly man.”
Reality TV is also a way of earning money, and now he’s retired from professional rugby, Mike has to find alternative sources of income. They don’t get anything from the royal purse, he’s quick to point out. “We look after ourselves – we don’t get anything for free,” he says. And Zara’s equestrian career is costly. “It’s annoying that people assume that just because Zara works hard for her living and I worked hard for mine, we’re sweet and lovely. It’s not like that. Horses cost a lot of money and what you read about her sponsorships is very far off the point.”
Zara Phillips reportedly earned $1 million for being an ambassador for Rolex.
The reputed $1 million Zara gets for being an ambassador for Rolex is “way off the mark”, he says. The couple, who currently live in a cottage at Gatcombe Park, the estate owned by Zara’s mother Anne, may need some extra cash because they’re renovating a seven-bedroom farmhouse. If rumours of a high-tech revamp, including installing a gym, cinema and games room are true, then Mike may need to make a few more TV appearances. He is the first member of the royal family to take part in one reality TV series – let alone two – since Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, were ridiculed when they cavorted in medieval garb for the game show It’s a Knockout back in 1987. The Queen is believed to have strongly disapproved of her children’s participation in the event.
Mike says he agreed to join The Jump, along with celebrities including Sir Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills, because he loves skiing. “I haven’t been able to ski for so long, with rugby getting in the way. So I loved the idea of being able to go out and get better at it.” The hardest part of making The Jump was being away from his family, Mike says. He kept in touch with daughter Mia (1) via Skype but she wasn’t allowed to watch him on TV because it was “past her bedtime”.
