JORDAN'S ROWING TO HIS HAPPY PLACE

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Jordan North tells all ahead of rowing challenge for Red Nose Day

2022-02-28T13:16:44.798Z

JORDAN'S ROWING TO HIS HAPPY PLACE

Jordan North tells all ahead of rowing challenge for Red Nose Day

2022-02-28T13:16:44.798Z

Jordan North tells all ahead of rowing challenge for Red Nose Day

Radio 1 DJ Jordan North is rowing from London to Burnley in five days to raise money for Red Nose Day.

When he found 15 minutes in his busy schedule to speak to Burnley Football Club, he was busy getting through a backlog of washing before embarking on his last two-hour training session on the River Thames.

Voices were hoarse, it was the day after Burnley’s sensational win over Tottenham Hotspur. He had listened to Clarets+ as he squeezed in some extra training on his rowing machine. He was due to have an early night but excitement and adrenaline meant he couldn’t sleep.

Jordan had been in the commentary box for Clarets+ for the goalless draw at the Emirates back in January.

“The Arsenal game could have been a turning point.

“Just when you think everybody is writing us off, we have found a corner. The ball is in our court.”

Burnley’s biggest celebrity fan had never rowed before. He regularly visited Thompson Park as a child with his Grandma and Grandad but never ventured onto the boating lake.

“Don’t ever say how hard can rowing be? I thought it would be about upper body strength but it’s your legs, your back, your neck.

“I run a few times a week. I’ve got average fitness but rowing is another level. I can cope with backache, the cramps in my legs in the middle of the night but the blisters on my hands are the worst.”

He has been training with Fulham Reach Rowing Club trainer, Tracy Corbett, for six weeks. He has needed to learn the science of rowing in double quick time.

“The first few weeks I was just going round in circles! I wasn’t getting far. It was all about technique.”

Jordan appreciates the experienced help he has been given.

“She is a godsend. She has the patience of a saint. She has really helped my technique.

“She is the Sean Dyche of the rowing world. It’s all about the margins.

“She knows what she’s doing. She tells me off when I’m moody!”

JORDAN'S ROWING TO HIS HAPPY PLACE - Image 1

Jordan, who hosts the BBC Radio 1 drivetime show with Vick Hope, became a viewer favourite during his time on ITV's I'm A Celebrity in 2020 as he overcame his fears during a series of gruesome challenges.

The Burnley-born DJ is taking on the rowing challenge in an unpowered boat and cannot go through the locks. He explained that could cause problems.

“One day we’ve got 12 locks. In an unpowered boat you have to get out of the water and out of the boat, and carry it to the other side of the lock.”

As fans will be only too aware, many of the Clarets Turf Moor February home games have been played in atrocious weather.

“The two things I’m dreading are going through Blackburn and the weather.

“When it’s incessant rain, it affects you mentally, your morale. Bad weather gets you down. I’m hoping it’s not going to be a wet week.”

Jordan’s Red Nose Day challenge is going to be featured throughout the week on Radio 1 culminating in an exciting homecoming at Finsley Gate Wharf on Friday 4th March. The challenge called Rowing Home will also feature in a BBC Three documentary.

“I felt like it was my turn to step up to the challenge. It’s a great charity. They do a lot of work for young people, it’s one of the main reasons I wanted to get involved.”

Ahead of the challenge, Jordan met a young called girl Steph at a Liverpool based charity, Local Solutions.

“She is an absolute diamond. I met her last week.

“She was living in a hostel in Liverpool and the charity turned her life around. She now has her own flat and protein bar business. It was a project funded by Comic Relief. Her social worker got her there one day and she loved it. She did water skiing, rowing, surfing and all sorts of water activities.”

Did Steph have any tips?

“If you fall in, stay with your boat!”

One of the big questions is, how will Jordan keep in touch with his beloved Clarets?

“I don’t like to think I’m a diva! The two demands I’ve made are, I want to follow Burnley when we are playing and I want the rowing machine removing when I get back. I’m sick of the sight of it!”

Everybody at Burnley Football Club wishes Jordan well in his Rowing Home challenge.