Move over James Corden, Carpool Karaoke has had its day.
The Urban Equestrian Academy is taking over, with filming of its new series Celebrities in the Saddle already under way.
Rather than singing, the stars of the series will be trying their hand at riding, in episodes to be screened initially on the academy’s YouTube channel and shared on its social media.
Academy founder Fr33dom Zampaladus told H&H he had the idea some years ago.
“I sat on it until I was in a position to have a real production company making it, and could draw the celebrities I wanted,” he said. “Now, the time feels right.”
The series kicked off with former boxing world champion and Sky Sports commentator Johnny Nelson on Thursday (3 September) and Radio 1Xtra DJ Melody Kane the following day. Among those also lined up to take part is actor and former So Solid Crew member Ashley Walters, aka Asher D.
The celebrities will ride in different areas, including severely deprived districts of the academy’s home town Leicester.
Fr33dom said the stars will share the episodes with their thousands of social media followers, helping to raise money towards building a new equestrian centre in the inner city, to boost the academy’s ambition of taking riding to those who could not otherwise access it, and also boost awareness.
“We’ll tap into audiences that aren’t necessarily horsey, who will see their role models engaging with horses; it’ll bring a whole new audience to the equestrian world,” he said, adding that he hopes the boost to inclusion and diversity within equestrianism will be significant.
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Jonny said: “I think this is an amazing opportunity for a community, and Fr33dom’s doing an amazing thing. If different communities in cities and towns did this, it would inspire so many girls and boys, of any colour, creed, religion or background, to get involved.”
And Fr33dom added: “This is the first series but we want to do series two, three — wherever it takes us, we’re looking to go.”
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