Question: What happens when you toss Strictly and Splash! together and, with some fanfare, stick the end result on primetime BBC1?
The answer is Tumble: a new talent show which requires celebrities to learn gymnastics, of both the floor and aerial varieties. They’re coached by a gymnast, partnered by a gymnast, commentated on by a gymnast, and then judged by a panel of gymnasts; it’s very much a gymnastics-orientated vehicle. This week, all of the celebrities performed for the first time and were guaranteed a place in next week’s show – but at the end of the second episode, the two contestants w ho receive the fewest votes will have to take on the Vault, and whoever is deemed to be the poorest will be eliminated. Sad times.
Other than the gymnastics element, there is nothing to set Tumble apart from any other celebrity talent show: the forced drama, mixed bag of routines and tedious judges have all been seen on shows previously. Even the celebrities aren’t new to 
reality TV fans: Andrea McLean competed on the first series of Dancing on Ice; Ian ‘H’ Watkins (the ‘H’ is very important nowadays) has been a Celebrity Big Brother housemate; Emma Samms, as well as being one of the less recognisable faces from Dynasty, was a contestant on Celebrity Scissorhands; and Peter Duncan has been on The Games and Let’s Dance for Sport Relief – as has Carl Froch. That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with the celebrities – they seem a perfectly amiable bunch – but they’re largely typical reality TV fodder, and are therefore often as disengaging as the training videos in which they feature and routines they perform.
In fact, even the judging panel is quite unappealing, comprising of Louis Smith and three others who, I think it’s safe to say, most viewers of this programme have never heard of, nor have any interest in.
They’re all gymnasts and all are disengaging. I mean, say what you like about Jo Brand’s right to be on the Splash! panel but at least she cracks a few gags and brightens up the mood after her fellow judges have commented on a ten-second belly flop with far more scrutiny than is necessary, or even appropriate, for a Saturday night celebrity competition. Tumble doesn’t even have a Jo Brand figure, though, meaning that the only person who rises above the tedium of his peers is Craig Heap, whose desperate emulation of Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood is painfully obvious and threatened only by mild conceit.
My main qualm with Tumble, however, was that it didn’t live up to its title – we saw very few 
tumbles. There’s a reason why the public love shows like You’ve Been Framed and It’ll Be Alright on the Night, and in the past have voted week after week for Todd Carty and Joe Pasquale to stay in Dancing on Ice, and Ann Widdecombe and John Sergeant to endure on Strictly: rightly or wrongly, we love to see failure and accidents on TV. It entertains us as a nation! So, when a show like this comes along, which doesn’t involve something that viewers have at least a smidgen of knowledge and can pass judgement on, like singing or dancing, we long for the accidents – the eponymous ‘tumbles’ – and when they fail to come, it makes for quite a boring show, as Tumble proved to me to be.
I appreciate that the celebrities have put a lot of time and effort into their routines, and Alex Jones did a quite admirable job as host, but the result was something bordering on car crash TV. I imagine that during these summer months, it will prove popular with families, and a few years ago could even have been lumped into the ‘Bearably Bad’ category – but now that that is occupied by shows like Splash! and Your Face Sounds Familiar, Tumble just seems like a bit of a damp squib.
I’m just preparing myself to pity the BBC when it goes up against The X Factor in a few weeks’ time…
Tumble is on Saturdays at 6:30pm on BBC1
What did you think of Tumble? Do you agree or disagree with my review? Please comment below or tweet me – @UKTVReviewer
just a small part of her act, as her violin-playing is exceptional. I loved her singing, too, although it was a shame that we only got a little burst of it – it seemed a bit out of place, really. I think it would have made much more sense for her to sing the ‘Wake me up inside’ line, rather than simply leaving a gap. She’s still an exceptional talent, though, and I really do hope that she does well in the future.
is not bad looking either. I’m sure he’ll have had the teenage girls of the national fawning over him tonight. Oh, and his voice is amazing too – I mustn’t forget about his voice. I just hope my boyfriend isn’t reading this review, else I’m going to be in a bit of trouble…
ever seen on Britain’s Got Talent. I have to be honest, I thought that his audition and semi-final performances were much better and more impressive than tonight’s; the fact that ITV were allowing such a trick to be broadcast in a live pre-watershed slot removed the danger of him being seriously injured somewhat. I’m sure this show will have given him the platform to be recognised and celebrated across the world – not just in his native Canada.
Buble’s crown, as Amanda claimed they did, I’m not sure but one thing’s for certain: they are brilliant! Not only do they look great, they sound it too. I said it when I reviewed their semi-final performance and I’ll say it again: they are a true breath of fresh air and I’m sure Simon will snap them up straight away.
singers/songwriters are talented, but I just can’t get over their sycophancy. Last week, they made a huge deal of telling Alesha that she looks beautiful. On This Morning on Thursday, they told Holly Willoughby the same – and had no qualms about stressing the point. A lot. Then tonight, when Simon said that he hoped that his son, Eric, grows up to be like them. Now, to that lovely comment a simple ‘Thank you’ would have sufficed but instead, Leondre (the youngest of the two) gushed that he hopes that he turns out like Simon when he’s older. Don’t get me wrong: I know that that’s better than them being miserable, unappreciative and insincere but…oh, it was all just a bit too much, in my opinion.
started chucking eggs at Simon Cowell during Collabro’s slot tonight, we’d have had a truly traditional Britain’s Got Talent performance! I was very surprised that Collabro won – yes, they have an abundance of talent and are incredibly popular and likeable but I thought that Bars & Melody, James Smith or even Jon might have just pipped them to the post. I am of course very pleased for them, though, and can’t wait to see where they go from here. Worthy winners!
All images thanks to ITV, ©Thames TV/SyCo
All images ©ITV 
Thomas Feely 
a bit of a shaky start with her song in her first audition but soon came into her own and managed to showcase her talent. Not only did Relley seem a fantastic singer, she had such likability, too. At her arena audition, however, things were quite different. Her chosen song, Chase and Status’s ‘Blind Faith’, was not right for her at all, and she tried to do too much with it. Nicole stopped the song half way through and Relley was met with silence from the audience and negative comments from the judges – but because of her ‘potential’ and strong original audition, she received four yeses. So she sailed through to Boot Camp. Despite how good we’ve seen her be previously, does this make something of a mockery of the arena auditions? Hmm, I’ll leave that for you to decide.
appeared with a framed picture of his: his cat, Patch. His song of choice was ‘Someone Like You’ – but unfortunately sang it about twice as fast as Adele, and with less than half the ability, too. Despite Gary and Nicole singing along and trying to get him back on track, Colin failed to stay in time with the music – not that it would have been any better if he did, mind you – and was sent home. I guess Colin won’t be following in the footsteps of Joe McElderry and Matt Cardle after all – or “Joe McElddy and Matt Cardell”, according to him.
Melanie was no different. She was the last in a long line of former auditionees (which included 2011’s Jade Richards, 2012’s Amy Mottram and 2006’s The Dolly Rockers) and was hoping that it would be fourth time lucky for her, having tried in 2009, 11 and 12 – but only ever getting as far as Judges’ Houses. I have huge respect for her for auditioning four times: that shows true dedication and determination. In my opinion her arena audition wasn’t as impressive as that in the room, but nevertheless she has a beautiful voice and I really hope that Dermot’s right, and this year will be different for her.
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