Graduate takes part in ITVs Ninja Warrior

A recent graduate has excelled in the first season of the ITV gameshow Ninja Warrior, beating a variety of challenges and hundreds of other contestants to secure second place in the final.

Teige Matthews-Palmer chose to take part in the contest after graduating from Leicester in 2014 with a biological sciences degree because he wished to continue taking part in sports.

He said: “I had stopped sport for a few months after graduating and was getting out of shape. My mood was suffering without exercise in my routine and I felt a bit down.

“My fiancée encouraged me to apply for the show and use it as a goal to get back on form and to regain my motivation.

"All the young children of friends and family are totally crazy about Ninja Warrior. I love to see anyone get excited to try sport: exercise can be fun and healthy and there is a sport out there for everyone.”

ITV’s Ninja Warrior is a competition that sees 250 contestants tackle a series of daring obstacles, all of them competing to reach the finals and have a shot at achieving 'Total Victory'. It has recently been renewed by ITV for a second season.

Teige said: “Ninja Warrior is a sporting competition for men and women, and I take it seriously since it is super-difficult and a real test of well-rounded athleticism. There have only been 3 winners in 30 seasons of Sasuke, the original Japanese series Ninja Warrior is based on.”

Teige pointed out how much he owed to the University’s science foundation program.

He said: “The foundation program had some great tutors and my cohort was full of motivated ‘mature students’. I feel lucky to have got on this program while it was still run.

“Biology is still my passion and until the next season of Ninja Warrior there is plenty of exciting lab work to do by day, and by night long evenings of sweat and effort as the training continues.”

Despite his success on Ninja Warrior, Teige considers himself lucky that he hasn’t got a big public profile.

He added: “Nobody has spotted me in the street yet. I slip by unnoticed - like a ninja!”