It’s been a year since Mt Midoriyama was conquered, and in 2021 the mountain is seeking revenge when Australian Ninja Warrior returns on Sunday, June 20, at 7.00pm on Channel Nine and 9Now.
More than 200 aspiring everyday athletes have been training day in and day out to prepare for their turn to take on the world’s toughest and most renowned obstacle course. Mums and dads, tradies and farmers, students and business owners from all over Australia will put their bodies on the line to see if they have what it takes to conquer Mt Midoriyama and win the title of Australian Ninja Warrior 2021.
Hosts Rebecca Maddern, Ben Fordham and Shane Crawford will be joined on the course by Nick Kyrgios, the man John McEnroe described as the most talented tennis player he has seen in ten years, as he makes his Ninja Warrior debut.
Ben Fordham (Host)
Host Ben Fordham is thrilled for audiences to see what’s in store for Season 5 of Australian Ninja Warrior.
“A year since Mt Midoriyama was conquered and the first Australian Ninja Warrior was crowned, the competitive spirit has escalated like never before,” he says. “The mountain will erupt with a course bigger and tougher than ever before. In this must-watch television, viewers will see the hardest course ever constructed.”
Fordham is an award-winning media all-rounder. He is in his 22nd year with Nine, initially as a reporter on A Current Affair and 60 Minutes and in more recent years variously as a host on the TODAY Show, TODAY Extra and Australian Ninja Warrior. He added radio to his bow in 2011 when he was recruited by Sydney’s No. 1 rating station, 2GB, to host Sydney Live in the 3pm-6pm shift.
In June 2020, he took over the reins from radio legend Alan Jones to host 2GB Breakfast.
As a 20-year-old political correspondent for radio station 2UE in the Parliament House Press Gallery in Canberra, Fordham won a Walkley Award – Australia’s top award in journalism – for his coverage of the 1997 Thredbo landslide tragedy, and a Raward – the top accolade in radio – for excellence in journalism. He became the youngest reporter in history to win the Walkley-Raward double and was honoured the following Australia Day with a Young Citizen of the Year Award.
His talents have also won major recognition in the Australian Commercial Radio Awards, being voted the nation’s best metropolitan talk presenter (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) and best metropolitan current affairs presenter (2017). In 2018, he received the prestigious Brian White Award for Radio Journalism.
Ben is married to Seven Network journalist Jodie Speers. They have a son, Freddy, and two daughters, Pearl and Marigold.
A proud Sydneysider, Ben is ecstatic to have the Ninja course returning to his home city.
“Sydney Olympic Park is one of the best sporting precincts in the world, and to bring the course back to Sydney during an Olympic year is very special,” he said.
“Olympic Park has been the home where sporting legends are made, and this year Australian Ninja Warrior will be set alight as these Ninja strive for the ultimate glory.”
Rebecca Maddern (Host)
Host Rebecca Maddern thinks Australian Ninja Warrior has really upped the ante in 2021.
“Just when we thought we had seen it all, Season 5 is set to bring more twists and turns than ever before,” she says. “This year we are excited to introduce a host of electrifying new Ninjas to the course, as well as the returning favourites. This year’s choose your own path, is shaping up to be the biggest twist we ever had.”
With a media career spanning 21 years, Maddern started in radio in 2000, originally working as a sports reporter for Triple M Melbourne before presenting news at Fox FM and Nova.
In 2003, she landed a reporting role in television at Channel Seven, where she was also a Sunrise correspondent and filed stories on sporting events including the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Australian Open, the Melbourne Cup and the AFL Brownlow Awards night.
In 2016, Maddern joined Nine as co-host of The AFL Footy Show. She now wears many hats, hosting Nine’s tennis coverage that includes the Australian Open, the Cricket World Cup, and being part of the Wide World of Sports team, as well as doing Australian Ninja Warrior.
In 2020, she joined Weekend TODAY as a host alongside Richard Wilkins.
A passionate AFL fan, she has achieved further recognition outside her television duties by being named the number one ticket-holder at the Geelong Cats Football Club.
Rebecca and her husband, Trent Miller, have a daughter, Ruby, who was born in 2018.
Crowds are returning for Season 5 of Australian Ninja Warrior, and she says nothing pumps up the Ninjas more than a live audience.
“It is so exciting to have audiences returning to the course. The Ninjas feed off the energy of the crowd, and with the toughest course to date, they are definitely going to need that extra support this year.”
For the first time in Australian Ninja Warrior history, water can become our Ninjas’ friend as they plunge deep with the introduction of a new obstacle.
“Normally our Ninjas are avoiding the water,” Bec says, “but this year we are shaking things up, adding an underwater obstacle into the mix. We never said season five was going to be easy.”
Shane Crawford (Sideline Commentator)
Shane Crawford is pumped to be back for another season of Australian Ninja Warrior, taking on the sideline commentary duties once more.
“I had an awesome time last year and I’m eager to get back on the sideline,” he says. “I have the best seat in the house, running alongside these incredible Ninjas, and a year on they look fitter than ever.”
The AFL premiership winner with Hawthorn and 1999 Brownlow Medallist has demonstrated a range of talent for television that has won him many fans, with his quick wit, empathy with a wide audience and natural ease on camera.
In 2008, he joined Postcards as a presenter and occasional co-host. His role on The Footy Show expanded in 2009, progressing from sometime panellist to joining the team as a weekly regular. Crawford has also hosted children’s programs such as Screema and Footy Frenzy on the Fox Footy Channel, and in 2004 was the subject of a documentary, Shane Crawford Exposed, which showed the behind-the-scenes challenges and issues of a football champion.
In 2010, “Crawf”, as he is affectionately known, completed an amazing feat to make Aussies proud, walking from Adelaide to Melbourne to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer Network Australia. That’s What I’m Walkin’ About lasted 12 days, raised $620,000, and saw Shane run back onto The Footy Show set through streets lined with supporters dressed in pink.
In 2011, he took part in Australia’s first series of Celebrity Apprentice, as he raised more money for Breast Cancer Network Australia. In 2014, he expanded his role at the Nine Network, becoming host of the children’s show, Kids’ WB. He also continued his charity work, cycling from Melbourne to Perth in another huge fundraiser for Breast Cancer Network Australia: The Tour de Crawf which raised the amazing total of $1,320,000.
Crawford, who lives in the north coast of New South Wales with partner Olivia Anderson and their four boys, Charlie, Ben, and twins Jack and Harry, came third on Ten’s I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! before joining The Footy Show alongside Lehmo, Neroli Meadows, Dylan Alcott and Brendan Fevola in 2019.
In 2021, he is co-hosting the Victorian travel show Postcards, whilst also making regular appearances on TODAY and Sports Sunday.
Talking about this season’s crop of Ninjas, Crawf says: “Don’t underestimate the new batch competing this season. Last year Ben, Charlie and Zak put on a masterclass, showing how to get it done, and you better believe every new Ninja was taking notes.”
What’s new this season? “It is all about vengeance, bringing a killer new course. I also have some company on the sideline, with tennis star Nick Kyrgios joining us. You never know what to expect with Nick, so he’ll definitely keep me on my toes.”
Nick Kyrgios (Sideline Commentator)
New recruit Nick Kyrgios is excited to be making his Australian Ninja Warrior debut. A fan of the show, Nick loved meeting and getting to know this year’s Ninjas. “Some of these Ninjas have such great stories. Whether it’s to prove someone wrong or for the money, I just love hearing people’s stories and why they do what they do. It was an amazing experience all round,” he said.
Kyrgios, 26, is one of the most exciting athletes in world sport. He has kept fans around the globe on the edge of their seats since 2014 when he famously defeated world No.1 Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Blessed with stunning power and rare finesse, Kyrgios’ appeal on the court is matched by his persona away from it. Raw, earnest and ever the entertainer, he has made it his mission to contemporise tennis with his trademark flair and charisma. This combination of talent and unpredictable behaviour makes Kyrgios one of the most watched players on the circuit.
After the 2020 Australian Open, Kyrgios sat out the remainder of the tennis calendar because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He became a voice of reason on the world stage for his rationale of putting family and loved ones before sport.
In January 2021, Kyrgios returned to Melbourne and once again had fans on the edge of their seats. He progressed to the third round of the Open before losing in a five-set marathon to world No.4 Dominic Thiem.
Outside of tennis, Kyrgios invests countless hours into his charity, the Nick Kyrgios Foundation, an organisation to assist disadvantaged and underprivileged families. He is a huge fan of the Boston Celtics basketball team and an avid gamer. When at home in Canberra he loves spending time with his family and pet dogs King and Quincy.
Asked if he gave the course a go, he joked: “I did not test out the course. I wouldn’t have even passed the first obstacle. You must be a different breed to take on that course.”
