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TV pair Chris Kamara and Ben Shephard were special guests at a Family Fitness Fun Day at the new Ninja Warrior UK park near Middlesbrough.

The duo, who host the popular ITV Saturday night show with Rochelle Humes, were in the North East to promote family fitness as part of Ninja Warrior UK’s campaign to Nominate a Mate and encourage more people to stay active and exercise.

Ninja Warrior UK Teesside opened at Teesside Park, Thornaby in July and has already proved a popular destination for children and adults of all ages from the area and more than 100 guests were there to greet Middlesbrough-born ‘Kammy’ and his TV pal ‘Shep’.

Pupils and parents from Kammy’s former school, St Pius X Catholic Primary School in Park End, Middlesbrough were among the invited guests who took on the famous course – alongside one of the TV show’s most popular Ninjas, ‘Victor’.

Kammy, who has been fronting the series with his close friend and fellow former Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday presenter Ben for nearly a decade, was clearly delighted to see so many faces, of all ages, willing to try and ‘beat the wall’ and conquer the infamous course.

He said: “We certainly didn’t have anything like this near us when I was going to school, back when the dinosaurs were roaming around, and I rarely went to the park where the swings and roundabouts were because I was always just playing football.

“There were hardly any facilities – and if there were they were probably wrecked – and football was just about the only thing you could play.

“Now look at this place. It’s incredible to think there are 19 Ninja Warrior parks in the UK and Teesside is one of them and the people here love it. It’s a dream to come back and see so many people enjoying it.”

Ben Shephard was a self-confessed fan of the original Japanese TV version of Ninja Warrior and he jumped at the chance to join the UK series which is filmed in Manchester and has now been held over six series – with more planned in the future.

Shep added: “Coming up here and coming into the area, when you approach this Ninja Warrior park it is epic. This is one of the closest I have been to the actual scale of the TV studio which is huge and quite overwhelming.

“And when you come in, you can see and hear the joy from the kids when they walk through the door. Their jaws drop and they just want to have a go.

“It’s fantastic facility for the kids and their families to come in, run around and just have a go and we’ve seen them, running around, running free, burning off energy, challenging themselves, getting stronger and fitter – and the best thing is they keep coming back and they love it.”

Ninja Warrior UK Teesside is hosting the Nominate a Mate campaign throughout September and October and asking people to challenge their friends and take up a two-for-one offer to encourage healthier, more active lifestyles within the park’s unique environment.

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