Cheltenham returns to ITV screens this week for fours days of elite horse racing action.
And the broadcaster has reassembled a star roster to match the talent on track, with former Sky Sports face Ed Chamberlin back in the saddle to lead the way. He and his fellow presenters will brace themselves for 28 top-tier races in Gloucestershire, with anticipation building towards Friday's Gold Cup bonanza.
The ITV cast includes the greatest jump jockey of all time, a member of Love Island royalty, and a rising star of racing media with a strong connection to one legendary trainer. And the team includes two members who were even an item themselves once upon a time.
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Ed Chamberlin
The main man of ITV Racing, Chamberlin joined the terrestrial broadcaster in 2017 soon after cutting his ties with Sky. And it's fair to say the move has worked out well as he's become the go-to broadcasting talent for most of the racing calendar's major UK dates.
It was the Somerset native who stepped in to replace Richard Keys as Sky Sports' main football presenter following the latter's unceremonious departure in 2011. However, the former bookmaker has got to explore his passion for all things equine with the ITV switch.
Megan Nicholls
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Sky Get it hereA life in horse racing seemed all but inevitable for Megan Nicholls given she was born into one of the most famous families in British racing. Dad Paul is, after all, one of the most successful trainers in history and a 14-time winner of the British jump racing Champion Trainer title.
That being said, Megan has carved out her own space in the sport and is impressing as a pundit and presenter following her own career as a jockey. She rode a total of 110 winners before retiring at 25 to focus on her broadcasting career and was known to be dating jockey Kevin Stott as recently as last year.
AP McCoy
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As far as many will be concerned, Sir Tony 'AP' McCoy is as good as it gets when it comes to National Hunt jockey talent. The County Antrim native was named Champion Jockey for each of the 20 years that he was a professional and rode a record 4,358 winners during that time.
One of only two Northern Irishmen to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year (after Mary Peters in 1972), McCoy is an Arsenal fan and close friends with ex-footballers like Ray Parlour, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman. His wife, Chanelle, is also power player in her own right and has starred on the Irish version of Dragon's Den.
Francesca Cumani
Another member of the punditry team born into the business, Francesca Cumani is the daughter of Italian trainer Luca and was born in one of the UK's racing havens, Newmarket. After getting her start as a presenter in Australia, mother-of-two Cumani joined ITV Racing in 2016 and was soon joined by Chamberlin, with whom she jointly won Broadcast Sports Presenter of the Year at the SJA Awards in 2019.
Chris Hughes
In terms of former Love Island contestants who have found success outside the Villa, Chris Hughes' path to ITV Racing is perhaps the most admirable. While he may have once been known as the more loveable half of his relationship with Olivia Attwood, he's since garnered a reputation as something of a brainbox around the track.
And there's no better meet for the Gloucestershire native than Cheltenham, where he'll put his encyclopaedia of knowledge to great use. Hughes' dating life has been another source of public interest, though he's currently believed to be single after relationships with ex-Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson and pro golfer Annabel Dimmock in the past.
Oli Bell
Like Chamberlin, Oli Bell was born in Somerset and cut his teeth presenting sport in other circles before finding his way to the ITV team having impressed on Racing UK. The broadcaster was briefly in a relationship with the aforementioned Cumani before the pair split in 2020.
Ruby Walsh
There's no doubt whatsoever Ruby Walsh would have a few more race wins to his credit were it not for his career overlapping with a certain man named McCoy. However, a total of 2,756 is still good enough to put him third on the all-time National Hunt winners' list.
Walsh's career nonetheless makes him one of the best ever to ride, particularly at Cheltenham, where he left as leading jockey on 11 occasions. Sister Katie was also a top-class rider prior to her retirement, while younger brother Ted Jr married another top jockey in Nina Carberry.
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