Following the 2016 launch of the hit show Blue Chip All Star Academy, Horse & Country TV is delighted to announce the programme will be returning to the channel for a second series.
Billed as a mixture between The Apprentice and Pony Club camp, the Blue Chip All Star Academy series saw eight riders battle it out across a number of challenges in order to be crowned series champion. The eventual winner was Rhianydd Lee-Jones, who received a year’s sponsorship from Blue Chip Feed and has since gone on to present for H&C from major equestrian events, including Burghley, Hickstead and Olympia.
The filming for this year’s Blue Chip All Star Academy will take place from March 29 to April 1. The location will once again be the Talland School of Equitation in Gloucestershire, with Talland’s owner (and the horse world’s answer to Alan Sugar) Pammy Hutton acting as head judge alongside presenter Jenny Rudall.
Eight riders will be chosen to attend the camp, with each receiving a prize bundle of equestrian kit worth more than £1,000. The contestants and their horses will then be put through their paces over four days of intensive training with some of the leading names in horse sport, taking part in a number of challenges designed to test their equestrian and media skills, until one overall winner is crowned.
This year’s winner gets a year’s sponsorship from Blue Chip and the chance to co-present an episode of Rudall’s Round-Up with Jenny, while all eight finalists will be invited to join H&C’s All Star vlogging team and will appear on the channel regularly on the All Star Diaries programme.
The Blue Chip All Star Academy contestants from the first series, photo by Jon Stroud Media.
“Blue Chip All Star Academy was a huge success for the channel last year, and we’re pleased to be able to produce a second series,” said H&C’s Head of Programming, Jonathan Rippon.
“The first series winner Rhi Lee-Jones has had a phenomenal year since winning the show, getting the opportunity to go to some of Britain’s biggest equestrian events and interview leading stars such as Ben Maher and Gemma Tattersall. We’re looking forward to seeing all of this year’s audition videos, and to finding out who will be crowned the All Star Academy champion for 2017.”
Clare Blaskey, Founder of Blue Chip Feed Ltd, added, “We are thrilled that Blue Chip is once again sponsoring Blue Chip All Star Academy. We have kept in touch with last year’s contestants and it has been fascinating to follow their incredible progress after appearing on the programme. We are very proud that our winner, Rhi Lee-Jones, has become a regular presenter on Horse & Country TV and looks to have a bright future in television. We can’t wait to meet this year’s contestants and look forward to working with them during the year.”
Series two will premiere on Horse & Country TV in May. H&C broadcasts on Sky channel 253 and via H&C Play, where viewers can watch the channel on laptop, smartphone and tablet.
Featured image by Jon Stroud Media.
