By Lauren Morris

Published: Monday, 09 May 2022 at 12:00 am

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ITV’s reboot of The Games begins tonight, with 12 celebrities preparing to take part in a series of sporting challenges over the course of the week.

Filmed live with The Games presenters Holly Willoughby and Freddie Flintoff fronting the show, the five-part reality show will put Love Island stars, actors, dancers and singers through their paces as they compete to be champions – but who are they?

Read on to learn more about the celebrity contestants taking part in The Games.

Olivia Attwood

Age: 31

Job: TV personality

Instagram: @oliviajade_attwood

Twitter: @oliviajade_att

TV personality Olivia Attwood rose to fame after appearing on the third series of ITV2’s Love Island, making it to the final with her then-boyfriend Chris Hughes.

Since leaving the villa in 2017, she has competed on The Crystal Maze, Tipping Point: Lucky Stars and appeared on Celebs Go Dating, The Only Way is Essex, Olivia Meets Her March, Loose Women and The Real Housewives of Cheshire.

“When I was younger, I loved sport and I was so sporty, but over the years I’ve become so distanced from it,” she said about taking part in The Games. “So when this show came up I thought, ‘When would I ever get the chance to do sport on this level with these amazing facilities and all these amazing athletes and coaches training us?’ I just thought it was too good a chance to pass up.”

Phoenix Gulzar-Brown

Age: 23

Job: Model and influencer

Instagram: @phoenixisphoenix

Model and influencer Phoenix Gulzar-Brown is a sports fanatic and the daughter of Spice Girl star Mel B.

As a child, she started playing basketball but didn’t pursue a career in the sport, but she’s hoping to bring her skills to this year’s competition.

“I’m excited about everything, the challenge, the whole competition. It’s something I’ve never done before. I love sport, so this is kind of my field. I’m going to be competitive in all the events,” she said. “I’m a competitive person! Friendly competitiveness is healthy, so I’m really excited.”

Kevin Clifton

Age: 40

Job: Former Strictly Come Dancing professional

Instagram: @keviclifton

Twitter: @keviclifton

Kevin Clifton is best known for competing in seven series of Strictly Come Dancing as a professional dancer and winning the show in 2018 with Stacey Dooley. He left the show in 2020 and began a career in musical theatre, starring in Rock of Ages, Strictly Ballroom and Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.

Outside of Strictly, he has appeared on House of Games, Loose Women, This Morning, All Star Musicals and All Star Mr & Mrs and is set to play Cosmo in a touring production of Singin’ in the Rain.

“There are two main reasons for me taking part in The Games. One is that everything in my life has been about performing, dancing, acting and singing and it’s usually felt quite comfortable, and then last year, I did Singing in the Rain and I’ve never done tap-dancing before and I had to learn tap-dancing for that,” he said.

“The fact that it went well has put me in the zone of thinking, ‘OK, if I properly put my mind to something then maybe I can do something completely different.’ Also, I’m turning 40 this year and I don’t want it to feel like I’ve done everything I wanted to do, in terms of dancing and performing and so now I’m getting older so I’ll just slow down. I want to get to 40 and be in the best shape of my life.”

Max George

Age: 33

Job: Singer

Instagram: @MaxGeorge

Twitter: @MaxGeorge

Max George is a singer and actor who is best known as a member of The Wanted – the award-winning British boy band.

In 2009, he joined the band and went on to produce hits such as All Time Low, Glad You Came, I Found You and Walks Like Rihanna before the group went on hiatus in 2013. Outside of music, Max took on an acting role in the musical-comedy Glee and has appeared on Bear Grylls: Mission Survive, Pointless Celebrities and the 2020 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Speaking about The Games, George said: “I thought the hurdles was going to be my worst event but I’ve really enjoyed them so far. There’s a couple of the lads that are really quick, but I just enjoy running and jumping and learning the technique. The hurdles are so technical, it’s really cool to learn a new skill.”

Chelcee Grimes

Age: 29

Job: Footballer and singer-songwriter

Instagram: @chelceegrimes

Twitter: @ChelceeGrimes

Chelcee Grimes is a presenter, singer-songwriter and footballer who currently plays for the Merseyrail Ladies.

She began playing football at the age of 10 and has played for Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and Tranmere Rovers throughout her career. Outside of football, Grimes is a successful songwriter, writing songs for Dua Lipa, Blackpink, The Saturdays, Kesha and Olly Murs, and a TV presenter, hosting coverage of the FIFA Women’s Cup, Eurovision Song Contest 2021 and MOTDx.

“I’m taking part in The Games because I love a challenge. For me this is the biggest challenge there is, learning nine events, over a space of about six weeks, will be challenging in itself,” she said. “Also I’m very competitive, so I’m going to be winning gold! Being a footballer, it’s been in my DNA from a young age that you don’t lose, you don’t draw, you go and win. And if you can’t win, don’t lose! So we’ll see what tactics I come up with.”

Josh Herdman

Age: 35

Job: Harry Potter actor

Instagram: @josh_herdman_official

Twitter: @josh_herdman

Josh Herdman is best known for playing Draco Malfoy’s henchman Gregory Goyle in the Harry Potter film franchise, with the actor admitting that he “went off the rails” following his career success.

He subsequently took up martial arts and cage fighting whilst continuing to act in Alex Rider, White House Farm, Marcella, Robin Hood and upcoming series The Man Who Fell to Earth.

“I love a challenge and I’m really competitive,” Herdman said on singing up for The Games. “I always want to learn new stuff and we are being taught by the best coaches and teachers. It will be a fantastic life experience, learning new things, having a challenge and competition, so it ticks all the boxes for me.”

Christine McGuinness

Age: 34

Job: Author, model and Autism ambassador

Instagram: @mrsmcguinness

Christine McGuinness is a model and beauty queen who is best known as a cast member on The Real Housewives of Cheshire from 2018 until 2020.

She has appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and All Star Mr & Mrs with her husband Paddy McGuinness, as well as shows like Loose Women, Hey Tracey!, Steph’s Packed Lunch and The Real Full Monty. Outside of TV, she raises awareness for autism, having been diagnosed as autistic last year.

“I’m taking part in The Games for my three children, who are my biggest inspiration. They just go for it with anything in life and they really inspire me. I’ve always been a bit scared, especially with sport,” she said. “When I was at school I would never have put myself forward for the netball team or anything. I was that girl at school that never took part. But my children just do it. So because of them, they’ve inspired me to push myself out of my comfort zone and do something a bit different.”

Lucrezia Millarini

Age: 46

Job: Newsreader

Instagram: @lucreziaitv

Twitter: @lucrezianews

Lucrezia Millarini is a news anchor for ITV News and journalist who has previously competed on Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Mastermind.

Millarini initially trained as a barrister before moving into local radio and joining ITV News London as an Entertainment Correspondent in 2010. She has since hosted ITV Lunchtimes News, ITV weekend News and ITV News at Ten.

“My strengths are definitely running, swimming, and diving,” she says about training for The Games. “I’m looking forward to getting back in the pool and I’m ready to take on the 10-metre diving platform. Fear is not an option. It’s as much about mental strength as it is about physical. I’ve got determination on my side.”

Colson Smith

Age: 23

Job: Coronation Street actor

Instagram: @colsonjsmith

Twitter: @colsonsmith

Colson Smith is an actor who is best known for playing Craig Tinker in Coronation Street who discovered his passion for fitness two years ago when he began running during lockdown.

He joined the soap in 2011 and was nominated for Best Young Actor at the 2015 Inside Soap Awards.

On taking part in The Games, Smith said: “It’s the aspect of a challenge that appealed to me about The Games and to prove to myself that I can do it. I’ve learnt in recent years that there are no limitations as to what I can and cannot do. This opportunity came up and it seemed like the perfect next step in my fitness journey.”

Wes Nelson

Age: 24

Job: Music artist and TV personality

Instagram: @wes.nelson

Twitter: @WesNelsonMusic

Wes Nelson rose to fame after appearing on the fourth series of ITV2’s Love Island, with the 24-year-old reaching fourth place on the show with reality star Megan Barton-Hanson.

After the show, he competed on Dancing on Ice and finished in second place before appearing on 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Crystal Maze, The X Factor: Celebrity and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. He has now branched out into music, entering the UK charts with singles See Nobody, Nice to Meet Ya and Drive.

Coming from a family of Olympic athletes, Nelson said that he signed up for The Games to fall in love with sport again. “I really haven’t done any sort of training, gym or running for four years now. And I could never have imagined myself saying that four years ago or having a life without sport. I wanted to fall back in love with it and back into it and get that engine and passion burning again.”

Rebecca Sarker

Age: 46

Job: Emmerdale actor

Instagram: @rebeccasarker

Twitter: @SarkerRebecca

Rebecca Sarker is an actor who is best known for playing Manpreet Sharma in Emmerdale as well as for her roles on Coronation Street, Doctors, Holby City, EastEnders and Casualty.

Outside of soaps, Sarker has appeared in Twenty Twelve, Dark Heart, John Carter and Rosemary & Thyme.

“I feel this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me,” she said about The Games. “I was very honoured and surprised to be asked to be involved and my children would probably never forgive me if I didn’t take part. It’s an opportunity to learn new skills and new disciplines, increase my fitness and challenge myself.”

Ryan Thomas

Age: 37

Job: Actor and presenter

Instagram: @ryanthomas84

Twitter: @ryanjamesthomas

Ryan Thomas is an actor is best known for playing Jason Grimshaw on ITV’s Coronation Street and Rafael Humphreys on Neighbours.

He quit acting in March 2021, but went on to appear on Celebrity Big Brother, This Morning, Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls and Absolutely India: Macs in Mumbai.

On why he signed up for The Games, Thomas said: “I think this is an amazing opportunity to give myself motivation, focus, keep fit mentally and physically, meet new people and learn new skills. I’m totally taking myself out of my comfort zone which is why we are all here I think.”

The Games starts on Monday 9th May at 9pm on ITV. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight. 

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