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Telegraph
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Jordan Cracknell: ‘I hope James stands again – but I think Reform are more organised than the Tories'
'Do you really row?' were the first words Jordan Cracknell uttered to her now husband, the Olympic rower James Cracknell, when they met. She laughs, recalling how she found herself sitting next to him for a matriculation photo for Peterhouse College, Cambridge, in 2018. Fresh off a plane from her native New York, Jordan was there to study for an MBA, while Cracknell was studying for an MPhil in human evolution, and preparing to become the oldest ever competitor in the Boat Race. 'James wasn't wearing a tie, so the porter handed him one saying this was the best rowing tie they had. And I'm looking at this guy, who looks really thin, and I'm thinking, 'This guy does not look like an athlete'.' 'He liked the fact that I didn't know him' The double Olympic gold medalist – who'd just finished filming Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls – was understandably bemused. Rather than enumerating all the ways he was a fairly big deal in the rowing world, he said a simple yes, and their chat moved onto their respective studies. And so the American left the encounter none the wiser. With hindsight Jordan says: 'I think he found it really refreshing. He liked the fact that I didn't know him, and I had no preconceived notions whatsoever.' After all, since his 20s, Cracknell, now 53, had grown up in the spotlight. The years of competing in rowing for Great Britain turned into years of executing extraordinary feats, such as rowing the Atlantic with his friend, the broadcaster Ben Fogle. Then there were the difficult years that followed his being struck from behind by a petrol tanker in 2010 while cycling in Arizona (which we'll return to later). And so to find himself sitting next to someone who had no idea about any of this, must have been a novelty. Over the next few weeks, Jordan and Cracknell kept running into each other at college events and found themselves gravitating towards each other. The appeal for Jordan? 'He was not as nerdy as other people,' smiles the 39-year-old. 'You have to understand Peterhouse is very small, and a lot of the PhD students focus on religion. One was studying sarcasm in the bible, so super esoteric. Those conversations were not for me or James. And I didn't know anyone.' We are in the light and airy communal area of her office in west London. A native New Yorker, Jordan grew up on the Upper East Side ('all very Gossip Girl '), but there's nothing intimidatingly Uptown Girl about her. Dressed in simple jeans, white shirt and pumps, she laughs frequently and fully at the series of events that have led to her now calling England home. 'My plan wasn't to come to England and fall in love' Today, she commuted from the home she shares with Cracknell in Henley, although the pair also have a pad in Fulham. It's a life that she could never have imagined for herself when she packed her suitcase and left Manhattan and her job in finance for a year of study. 'My plan wasn't to come and fall in love. After all, so many people meet online now, it's so rare to meet in person,' she says. The decision to come to Europe to study followed years concentrating on her career, leading to a desire to spend some proper time in Europe travelling. Instead, she ended up being initiated into the rarefied world of British rowing. Over six years on, and she's not only fully acquainted with Henley Royal Regatta – which begins on July 1 – but has supported James through a general election, all while maintaining her own career; Jordan is also the author of a children's book, You Can Count On Penny, that aims to inspire a love of maths in the young. Back in 2018, however, she remembers, three weeks into first term, a young college friend of hers trying to tell her about the kind of profile the Olympian Cracknell had. Jordan was still slightly underawed. 'When you turn on the Olympics in the States, all the programming is focused towards swimming and gymnastics. That's why Michael Phelps and Simone Biles are huge. 'Even later when I started dating James, he was talking about events in the Olympics that I had no idea existed. The coverage in the UK and Europe is much more rounded than in the US.' As the pair got closer, even Cracknell tried to prepare her for how public his life was, but still it didn't land. 'I was like, 'Yeah, yeah'. I grew up in New York, I went to school with Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel's daughter. In New York, you ignore celebrities. Everyone's famous for something.' She finally started to get it when on a night out at Wetherspoons a drunken hen party guest asked her, 'Do you know who this man is? This is an asset to the United Kingdom.' 'I thought that was really funny, and so did James,' says Jordan. By the New Year of 2019, having spent a month in the US for Christmas, but talking on the phone with Cracknell every day, Jordan knew the relationship was something serious. Still, it was a closeness that only their group of Cambridge friends knew about. From the beginning, Cracknell had been open with her about the fact that he and his wife, the TV presenter Bev Turner, mother to his three children, had separated the previous year. However, their separation was only announced publicly in March 2019, leading to inevitable news headlines. 'It was weird to see the press coverage about our relationship at first. It didn't help that there was a picture of him grabbing my behind,' laughs Jordan. 'All my American friends thought it was so funny, which helped me laugh at the situation as well.' And then came the Boat Race that April. 'It was crazy. Piers Morgan was trying to get him on the phone ahead of the race. There was a complete media blackout.' Cracknell went on to be the oldest winner ever, at the age of 46. At what point did Cracknell talk to her about his accident in Arizona, and the brain injury that followed? 'He told me he had been in an accident. With James, the way the information about his life was shared, it was all very piecemeal. It came out in fits and spurts.' It was in 2019, as a guest at a dinner for Headway, the brain injury association that Cracknell is vice-president of, that she really started to understand brain injuries. Even today, they don't talk about it on a day to day basis. 'It's a terrible thing to go through. Not just the brain injury, but the PTSD of being involved in an accident like that. It was traumatic, not just for James, but his entire family.' Jordan met Cracknell's children, his parents, and sister, in their first years of dating. He also met her mum and brothers – her father having died of a heart attack when she was 19. And when Jordan's MBA finished, the couple committed to a transatlantic relationship. 'He was on Strictly at the time, so a lot of the flying was up to me. Commuting transatlantically is not the most fun, especially in economy,' laughs Jordan, who at 6ft has enviably long limbs. It was a struggle to try and watch the show while in New York. Jordan recalls finding an English pub called The Churchill and asking them to put it on. 'The two drunks at the bar got really into it as well,' she laughs. Her friends in the US, meanwhile, were convinced she was dating a knight, failing to understand the difference between an OBE and a knighthood. Eventually Jordan spoke to her boss about the idea of going back to England, who was supportive of the idea of her setting up a London office. She moved over permanently in October 2019, with her two elderly cats, flying to Paris, and then driving the last leg so they didn't have to go in cargo. Home became a rented flat in Chelsea, which is where she and Cracknell found themselves when the pandemic started. Cracknell put his rowing machine on the balcony – and Jordan tried rowing for the first time. 'James gave me tips, which was really nice. I'd row for 20 minutes and be pretty happy, and then he'd be on it for two hours,' she laughs. Jordan found a novel way to fill the lockdown time, watching some of Cracknell's documentaries, from rowing the Atlantic, to coming 11th in the Marathon des Sables. 'I learnt a lot,' she says. And of course, she has got to know Ben Fogle and his family in real life, too. 'I never expected James to go into politics' It was in January 2021, while on a weekend trip to Cambridge, that Cracknell proposed, with the couple choosing to marry that August in London. 'My mum said it was the tallest wedding she'd ever been to,' laughs Jordan. 'She's about 5ft 3in, so she was this tiny lady surrounded by tall men.' There were also some uninvited guests, with Jordan having to eject some members of the press who had gate-crashed the reception at the RAC club, and were at the bar trying to get drinks. How has she handled the public interest in hers and Cracknell's life together? 'I've gotten used to it. There are no books on how to deal with it, no dummies' manual,' she laughs. 'It sits better with me now, I guess.' One dummies book she did buy though, was about British politics. 'That was a whole other thing. I was not ever expecting James to tell me he wanted to do politics.' In September 2023, Cracknell was selected as the Conservative candidate for Colchester. Jordan joined him canvassing in the rain, both of them wearing out their trainers during 10-hour shifts in the rain. 'I learnt a lot,' she reflects. 'I really understood what the issues are for the average British person outside of London, their worries and concerns about jobs, the economy, immigration.' In the 2024 general election, Cracknell lost to the Labour candidate. It was a fascinating learning experience for Jordan, who has long been interested in politics. Back home she is a Democrat, saying they have more in common with UK conservatives, while Republicans are closer to Reform in outlook. 'Everything is more Left-wing in the UK,' she says. She follows US politics with interest and sees Trump's re-election as a sign that the Democrats are failing their party base. 'Biden really fumbled it, and Kamala didn't really have a lot of time,' she says. 'I think people would have appreciated having a Democratic primary [to formally elect a candidate]. It was just mismanaged.' Even now, she says the Democrats aren't reorganising themselves in an electable way. 'It's unfair that the octogenarians are in charge. We should have more young people coming up from the bottom. It's terrible the establishment stays, and stifles this growth. As long as that keeps happening, we're just going to have Trump or Vance.' 'If he ran again, I would be there knocking on doors' In the UK, she is impressed by how Reform run their campaigns. 'It's a very well organised party,' she says. 'The Conservatives do everything by paper, filling out damp forms on doorsteps, that then have to be digitally inputted. Whereas Reform are sending out personalised mailings to constituents. It's something to think about,' she says. 'I'm not certain of what Labour or Lib Dems do, but I think the Green Party is getting really organised, too.' She is supportive of any further attempts Cracknell decides to make to be elected, saying: 'I actually really hope that James runs for politics again. We've been through an election, and we know what works and what doesn't work. It kind of depends on what happens in the next few years in politics. Certainly, if he ran again, I would be there by his side knocking on doors.' First, there's that Royal Regatta. In previous years she's always made sure friends' visits to the UK coincided with the event. 'They all love it. They love the dressing up aspect, we always have a good time. 'The top comment is, 'We don't have anything like this in the States'. I guess the closest we have is polo, but those are very expensive to go to. We don't have this very nice rowing regatta in a very picturesque place.' Henley life is otherwise peaceful and quiet. The couple now have three dogs. It's not unheard of for Matthew Pinsent to drop round with his own to say hello. She and Cracknell occasionally go out on the water too. 'It's so funny because I was so worried about falling in. And he was like, 'I don't want to fall in too. It's fine'. He's a really good teacher. He really breaks it down so nicely and is so certain of himself. You feel you can really trust him.' Every day she thinks about the day before she flew to England to start her MBA. 'I went to the beach at the Rockaways. I was wearing the skinniest bikini, and I remember lying in the sun getting all tanned. If you'd told me that day at that beach, what would have happened after that flight, I would never have believed you.'
Los Angeles Times
7 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
The best way to really unwind is by taking one of these backpacking trips in L.A. County
Even though it's the most populated county in America, L.A. County is home to about 20 backcountry campgrounds. I curated a list of them and organized them by the difficulty of the hike to reach them and how much 'roughing it' each site requires. (Yes, I did visit each one myself.) Backpacking offers you the opportunity to experience the forest as a temporary home. You are still enough to be immersed in your environment in a way hiking provides only a glimpse of. Far enough from the light pollution of the city, you'll see the stars twinkling above. At night, instead of traffic and honking, your soundscape may include the croaking of frogs, the hooting of owls and, in the morning, a cacophony of birdsong as the forest awakens. I chose these spots, in part, because you don't have to drive too far, they're all first come, first served, the roads to reach them are paved and trails that lead to each site are generally well-maintained. And as a bonus, the hikes to reach each one are beautiful on their own and feature wildflowers and native trees, including massive pines and oaks that will shade your journey. And each spot is isolated enough to make you feel as if you're outside the city without being so devoid of human life that you'll wonder whether Bear Grylls will pop by. (Don't drink your pee, regardless of what he says.) Read the full list here. When I look at the mountains that surround Los Angeles, I am consumed by the memories I've made. The time a coyote ran past our campfire at Chilao campground, prompting my wife and I to move our tent from its path. The time my friends and I saw the bright pink northern lights from a dark parking lot and were essentially alone on the mountain with their brilliance. The time my dog, Maggie May, and I summited Mt. Baldy, and my fellow hikers laughed that I'd packed her a whole can of dog food for our feast at the top. Unlike other major metropolitan centers, L.A. is a short drive from the mountains. You can pick up food at one of the best restaurants in the city and be on the trail, headed to your backcountry campsite, in under an hour. This is part of what makes living in L.A. awesome. Why not give it a whirl? I am always looking for the next adventure. And I have loved guiding Californians to the great outdoors in The Wild, our weekly outdoors newsletter. But some adventures do need to be repeated. I keep thinking about how much I want to return to the La Jolla Walk-In Camp, a no-frills spot in Point Mugu State Park just off the epic Backbone Trail. Its campsites are just small spits of land cut out of the coastal sage scrub, but you can't find that level of isolation and privacy anywhere else nearby. I also hope to return to the Cooper Canyon and Valley Forge trail camps, two gorgeous campgrounds in Angeles National Forest that are near creeks perfect for a swim after a nice, long hike. Check out one of several first come, first served campgrounds reachable via a short drive from L.A. On a late Saturday afternoon, I stood on a cliffside looking at Cooper Canyon falls, a 25(ish)-foot waterfall near the Buckhorn campground, my favorite first come, first served spot in Angeles National Forest. Maggie May and I hiked a bit farther on the Burkhart Trail, and I became giddy when I spotted tiny rainbow trout swimming in and out of folds of fluffy brown moss in the creek where they hid from predators (including Maggie). It was the first time I'd spotted them in a local river. Yet another memory made. A selection of the very best reads from The Times' 143-year archive. Jac Cosgrove, wilderness reporterKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew J. Campa, reporterKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Daily Mirror
14-06-2025
- Daily Mirror
Prisoners taught bushcraft skills worthy of I'm a Celebrity
Courses in wild skills, bushcraft and survival techniques cover how to make shelters, forage for food, tie knots and use a compass for inmates at HMP Isis in South East London Prisoners are being taught survival skills worthy of the I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! jungle, but one key element has been banned. Courses in wild skills, bushcraft and survival techniques cover how to make shelters, forage for food, tie knots and use a compass. But one key component of the bushcraft toolkit is outlawed: knives. The Bear Grylls and Ray Mears-style sessions are held at HMP Isis in South East London, which holds 622 inmates and has been plagued with weapons and gangs. The class would be great preparation for stars going into the Aussie jungle on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!, hosted by Ant and Dec. A source said: 'These sessions raised a few eyebrows – we are in Thamesmead, not Tasmania. But anything which helps these men turn their back on crime is a positive.' The course was singled out for praise by a team from an Independent Monitoring Board, which visits prisons to make sure they are being run properly. Its report said: 'Soft skills training for prisoners was part of a number of initiatives and training.' Inmates can sign up for other courses run with a further education college including motorbike repairs, waste management and broadcasting. It comes as prisoners at another jail are bussed out to the coast for sea-fishing exercises, casting lines from the shore. A Prison Service spokesman said: 'These activities are part of a rehabilitation programme, ultimately making our communities safer.'
The Sun
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Holly Willoughby looks happier than ever as she poses in her bikini and cuddles two pals
HOLLY Willoughby looked happier than ever as she posed in her bikini and cuddled two pals. Presenter Holly, 44, couldn't stop smiling as she sat on the floor with her arms wrapped around Director of Artist Relations at Universal Music, Shiarra Bell, and All Saints star Nicole Appleton. Wearing her hair in a carefree messy bun, Holly looked relaxed and glowing as she embraced her pals on holiday in a mystery destination. Posting the snap to Instagram, she kept the caption simple with a single red heart emoji, tagging both friends. The former This Morning host's celeb buddies filled the comments section with their well wishes. Emma Bunton wrote: "There's my gorgeous girls!!!" while Lisa Snowdon said: "The cutest pic!" and Christine Lampard inserted a string of heart-eyed emojis. It's been an incredibly testing few years for former ITV treasure Holly, with her work life as she knew it crumbling around her. For the first time in years, she has been left without a TV show - and she's now at a serious crossroads and is poised to start a new chapter in her career. Once the princess of ITV, she is currently 'showless' with her beloved channel for the first time in 21 years. With her time on ITV's This Morning now a distant memory, Holly was looking likely to land a series of lucrative deals with the streamers. But in a further blow - her new Netflix show, Bear Hunt, with Bear Grylls, has been axed. The news comes just weeks after Dancing On Ice was axed and on top of that, she has made the decision to step down from You Bet!, leaving Stephen Mulhern to present alone. She is set to appear briefly in the next series, but will no longer be hosting it. It marks a huge shift in her work with ITV. One option for the star could be a reboot of Record Breakers, which Holly's husband Dan Baldwin is already working on. There is currently no channel attached to the show, which is in its very early stages but sources say it would be a "perfect fit". A telly insider said: "Record Breakers is likely to be a prime time hit and it would make perfect sense for Holly to take the reins. "She has worked alongside Dan before and the pair know what it takes to make great telly." She has also been linked to a reboot of Cilla Black's best-known show, Blind Date. The Sun told this week how the ITV classic is being revived - and in a surprise twist will go to global streaming service Disney+. Producers want to keep the tradition of a top British female host, with a shortlist including Claudia Winkleman, Holly Willoughby and Davina McCall. Sources say Holly is also being looked at for a new Channel 4 talent show, currently dubbed Secret Singers, which is searching for raw, undiscovered singing talent. Love Productions - the creators of The Great British Bake Off and The Piano - have already put out a casting call. An insider said: "This is likely to be a heartwarming and hugely popular show for all the family. "They are looking for a the perfect host to make sure it's a huge success and it could be perfect timing with Holly's break in TV." Holly returned to TV last year after 18 months - she had stepped down from presenting work entirely after discovering a plot to kidnap and murder her. Evil Gavin Plumb was given three life sentences for planning to break into her home, then sedate, abduct and kill her and her husband. It came just months after a very public falling out with her co-host Phillip Schofield, which ended with him leaving the show in May 2023. Changes are happening behind the scenes, too. Holly has a big decision to make with her media company Roxy after it was revealed she owes a huge amount to the tax man. Roxy was set up in 2008 by Holly with husband Dan Baldwin. But it wasn't until 2022 that Holly filed the first annual accounts for her all-female ran company after she made the decision to leave former talent agency YMU in 2020. Roxy Media deals with TV show 'production activities', according to its listing on Companies House. But just three years on, Roxy has now been slapped with a winding up order. Action against the company was launched in January and the court was told Holly's company has already settled a bill of £377,000 with the taxman, with an unknown amount still owed. In recent weeks Holly has turned to close friend Christine for support. Like Holly she has enjoyed long stints with ITV, but has also stepped away from them at times. Sources have said that Holly is inspired by Christine's career and her work-life balance and is hoping to emulate that herself. They said: 'Holly is ready for a rebrand and has definitely been looking at those around her for inspiration.' Addressing her incredibly difficult time, Holly recently told The Sunday Times Style Magazine: 'It's been tough. There's no way of sugar-coating it.' Discussing why she felt moving forward was her only option, Holly said: 'Sometimes things go wrong, but you have to keep going for it because that's all you can do.' And it looks like Holly is moving forward - but not before making some serious changes. 4 4 4
The Sun
13-06-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Soccer Aid star forced to pull out of the match at the last minute due to injury, saying ‘I'm gutted'
A SOCCER Aid star has been forced to pull out of the match at the last minute due to injury. Bear Grylls, who was set to play for the England team is no longer able to play in the game on Sunday and said he was "gutted". More on this story to follow...
