Lee Sharpe for Superstars
Former England footballer Lee Sharpe says the new series of Superstars took him back to the days of the school playground, writes Mike Martin.
The first episode sees the four team captains Sir Steve Redgrave, Dame Kelly Holmes, Mike Catt and Roger Black make their player selections.
Sharpe explains: "It's like waiting to be picked for teams in the playground. It's a very funny sequence to watch."
Sharpe admits he failed to train for Superstars but his natural talent got him through - almost.
He explained: "I didn't have time to train properly, so I had to rely on my natural hand-eye co-ordination.
"That got me through some events, but others I struggled with. Kayaking for example - I was hopeless at that, terrible. And the bar dips - that is just pure, utter pain."
Sharpe has played football at the highest level, even scoring a Champions League backheel against Barcelona, but admits to having Superstars nerves.
These were made worse by a penalty shoot out against England Ladies' goalkeeper Rachel Brown.
Sharpe says: "Did my opponents mention that I might miss a penalty against a woman? Did they remind me that a woman might save my penalty?"
Some of the Superstars disciplines were quite easy for Sharpe, but a couple of the newly-introduced ones gave him real problems.
The new series has kayaking and speed-climbing, and both were hard for Sharpe. "I was rubbish at kayaking.
"Also the speed climbing is really tough, because you're trying to go fast but without panicking. My arms were shaking when I came off that rock."
Sharpe was famous for his pace as an England and Manchester United player but admits he was put to shame by some of his Superstars opponents.
He explains: "Sir Steve Redgrave was amazing, inspirational. Obviously he is retired now but he still has that burning ambition to win.
"And as a physical specimen Iwan Thomas was amazing, absolutely incredible. They still always want to win."
Although Superstars doesn't compare to playing for England, Sharpe and his team-mates took it pretty seriously.
Sharpe, a Premiership winner with Manchester United and winner of eight caps for England, says: "All sportsmen and women have that inside of them.
"Obviously this isn't that serious but everyone involved still wanted desperately to win."
Superstars, Five, Friday, 8pm