Former Coleraine Rugby Club captain takes on '˜Can't Touch This' challenge

Father-of-two, Ian McClelland (42) made it to the final three in the prime time programme which is presented by Zoe Ball and Ashley Banjo and commentated by Sue Perkins.

“I made it through the first round and won the second round but I came up against two whippets in the final, an 18 and 20 year old,” laughed Ian.

“I didn’t manage to win but it was a fantastic weekend and I was buzzing for two weeks after it.

Ian, who is from Newmills Road and runs a farm and Tullans Caravan Park, responded to an email from the BBC looking for contestants for the show last February.

“I filled the form in and to be honest I forgot about it. But two weeks later I was asked along to an audition at a leisure centre in Belfast last July.

“I took part in a fitness test and some team games and had an interview in front of the camera. I was then shortlisted and then told I’d made the programme which was filmed in Belfast on September 5 last year.”

Catapulted into a giant obstacle course, 16 contestants have to battle their way through fiendish challenges while trying to touch prizes that are tantalizingly just out of reach. But only one of them will win the chance to take home their prize haul.

“The filming for the show took place at a warehouse in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. They took us through the course in the morning and did the usual health and safety checks.

“It was fascinating to see how shows like this are made. They put us up in the Stormont Hotel on the Saturday night and we all went out in Belfast afterwards and the people I’ve met have been keeping in touch through Facebook. It really was a fascinating experience and I really enjoyed it.”