Don't Look Down - Interview with Victoria Pendleton
Category: Press Pack ArticleWhy did you sign up for Don’t Look Down?
I needed to do something, get back into the swing of things and it was the perfect opportunity coming around at the perfect time. I feel very fortunate. It came to me pretty late – I think they were thinking I wouldn’t necessarily be interested in doing something so soon, and I was like, “Actually, no, I think it sounds really interesting.”
I’ve never done anything like that before and I knew that Fats [Timbo] was doing it. I thought, if Fats is doing it, then I’d love to do it because we get on really well, and I think she’s amazing. I was like, that could be fun, hanging out together learning something new. I said, “Why not give it go?”
I’m not particularly scared of heights, but my balance isn’t great. It’s good on two wheels, it’s quite bad on my actual trotters [laughs]. I’m quite clumsy. I’m the kind of person that trips over the step, bumps into the doorframe, stubs my toe regularly. I thought this could be good for me to learn something about balance.
Well, you already have the advantage of not being afraid of heights.
I’ve done a lot of things involving heights before, out of choice. I did some skydiving, and I’ve got my accelerated freefall certificate, so I can jump solo out of planes.
Is it fair to say that you’re an adrenaline junkie then?
I am. I seek ways to get that adrenaline fix regularly. If it’s not horses or motorcycles or skydiving or climbing – I love that sort of thing.
What, if anything, were you nervous or anxious about?
I was more nervous about just being wobbly and not managing to get the skill. I was like, I hope I can pick this skill up, because it’s unlike anything I ever do. Everything I do is usually with force and grit and determination, which is the opposite to what you bring to the wire. You have to bring quiet, relaxed, smooth, graceful, whereas I’m more like, “Push it!” I wasn’t sure I’d be able to channel that calm because when I try, I get tense. That’s my default.
Do you think your natural sporting abilities helped you at all?
When you’re an athlete and you’re used to taking on board coaching and criticism all day, every day, you’re able to absorb it all without, sort of, feeling emotionally affected by it. If someone says, “You’re doing that wrong,” you’re like, “OK, am I doing it right now?” You keep pushing to try and get it – so definitely a drive to keep trying until you get it. You don’t run out of enthusiasm. That definitely helps.
I also love being coached. I don’t mind being a novice. Whenever I try something new, and I do regularly, sports-wise, I never go in with an expectation of what I want to achieve at the end, I’m just going to listen very hard and try really hard, and then hopefully I’ll get it… I don’t mind looking a bit silly to start with because it’s always part of the process before you get to grips with a technique, whether that’s wobbling about on a horse, or struggling to make a U-turn on a motorcycle.
Is there anything you haven’t been able to turn hand to?
I am a horrible swimmer, quite frankly. Whenever I try and swim faster, or with a more performance technique, everything just goes wrong. I’m very splashy and out of breath. It’s not good. I can swim slowly, more like a nana, but whenever I try to do front crawl, or whatever, with any sort of drive – I’m not a water baby… apparently it looks like I’m pedalling under the water [laughs].
What was the toughest day of training on the show?
Probably the first day because we were all an absolute disaster! We were looking around at each other going, “Are we ever going to be able to do this?!” It was like, “Wow, this really hurts your feet, and no one’s got any balance.” I thought that was the most daunting – we were all slightly second guessing whether it was even vaguely possible.
Were there scares or mishaps along the way?
Oh yeah! People fell over and slipped off loads of times. We got to make use of our harnesses - you have to have faith in the harness [laughs].
Who have you bonded with most in the group?
I love Fats, she’s a force of nature and I love everything about how she approaches life. I can see her, when she’s given instructions, she takes it, and her face gets really focused and she takes a deep breath, and she gives it a go. She very much has an athlete’s mentality when it comes to pushing herself.
I love Kimberly Wyatt as well. She’s like my twin flame; we’re so similar in so many things, and she’s obviously a dedicated dancer with such beautiful grace and poise – I could watch her all day.
I also really bonded with Anton [Ferdinand]. This was so unexpected. I don’t know many footballers, mostly because in my life I’ve never crossed paths with many, it’s so far away from my sport, but he was thoughtful and considerate, and gave me a lot of good advice, in terms of dealing with the grief process, and I appreciated that. He was very sincere and very thoughtful, and I really feel like we’ve built a relationship and rapport there… when I was having a tough day, he could recognise it in me before I even said anything… his compassionate side blew me away.
The series is being made in aid of Stand Up to Cancer. In what ways has your life been impacted by cancer?
I lost my twin brother [Alex], it will be, well, nine weeks before the start of the show, to cancer. I am very much – I’m still very early in my grieving process, I have to say. He had a brain tumour. He had leukaemia when we were very young, and then he developed a brain tumour in 2020. It was grade four, stage four, so terminal. We just made the most of the time we had in between, but yeah, he passed away in the summer this year.
That was my main motivation, because I know full well he would have been like, “You need to carry on with your life, Victoria, and do things, and do things that make you happy.” He wouldn’t want me to be sad. He was always so positive and so optimistic, and that was his mindset. So, I was like, I think it would be good to go and focus on something and do something positive for such a great cause. And I know that he’d want me to.
He was always my biggest supporter… he called me Louie, because I’m Victoria Louise, he’s always called me Louie, he would be like, “Louie, I wouldn’t do it, but I’ll support you a hundred per cent.” I couldn’t convince him to get on a horse, I couldn’t convince him to skydive, I know he would be like, “No way am I getting on that wire,” but he would always support me if I wanted to do it. He was my number-one fan.
I’m sure he’d be very proud of you and how much you’ve thrown yourself into it.
I hope so. I thought about him a lot while I was out there in the mountains. He used to say to his wife, “I love you like mountains” – because they’re so big and amazing, and he loved snowboarding [laughs]. It’s a really weird thing to say, but it, kind of, stuck as their phrase. So, whenever I’m in the mountains, I’m always like, “I love you Alex, I hope you can see and experience this through me.” He loved them so much. For me, it was a very healing experience to be out there in such a sensational environment, because it made me think of him in a special way.
What do you hope viewers take away from the show?
First of all, it’s thoroughly entertaining – although I hope they’ve got enough beeps to cover up all of GK Barry’s swearing [laughs]. She’s so funny. She says some fantastic stuff. I hope people really enjoy watching us wobbling around on the wire, but also having an incredible camaraderie in the team, because even some of the producers were like, “We can’t believe we’ve got such a random group of individuals that get on so well.” And hopefully people take heart in human endeavour and what you can do if you put your mind to it.
Do you feel confident you’ll be able to complete the final challenge across a famous London landmark?
I’m sure that I’ll be able to step out on whatever height, wherever it is. Whether I’ll have a wobble and fall off, I can’t really say. That’s in the hands of the gods in many ways, but I’m going to be giving it my best shot. I’m not going to back down. I would do anything to push myself and learn something, and also I’d do anything for my brother Alex, so there is no question that I would back out at this stage, or back down.
Have you set your sights on any other challenges? You’ve done Strictly Come Dancing, you’re doing this…
I did SAS: Who Dares Wins, that was brilliant. I don’t know. If someone approached me with [another] challenge, I will always be game… I would say that not too many things scare me, and now I think my perspective on what scares me has changed drastically because I realise how precious life is.