Caribbean Bliss

From Rugby to Caribbean Bliss: How ITV Hijacked My Weekend (and Changed My Year)

You know those moments where you're utterly convinced nothing could possibly top what you're missing out on? For me, that was a Chiefs Women’s rugby game. High stakes, high passion, and me, grumpily en route to London with my lovely wife who cryptically claimed we had a “surprise” to collect. Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled. The only thing on my mind was rugby. At one point, we were sitting in a café, with the ITV studios ironically looming behind us (clueless, I know), streaming the game on my phone, cheering like lunatics. Other customers were giving us side-eyes that screamed: “Are they all there?” (Answer: not really.)

At halftime, the wife dropped the bomb: “We have to go now.” Sacrilege. But off we went, and suddenly, I found myself in a surprisingly compact TV studio. Yep, it was Saturday Night Takeaway. Cue: lightbulb moment. This was the surprise. I was half-annoyed at missing the second half of the match, half-impressed. Turns out, we were hand-picked guests for the first live show of the final season. All of us in the audience were dedicated fundraisers, and suddenly, I didn’t feel so bad.

What followed was four hours of cheering, “woo-ing” (mandatory, apparently, or they’d replace us with people off the street), and high-octane live TV madness. Then came the twist: “You’ve all won a holiday!”

Naturally, I assumed it was a prank. A camera trick. Maybe someone spiked my coffee. But no, this was real. The takeaway getaway was ours.

Cut to a few days later: an email lands with our very own travel concierge, Chad (yes, really), offering us a smorgasbord of cruises and beach holidays. 175 of them, to be exact. After much internal squealing, we picked a Caribbean cruise. Curaçao, Aruba, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Barbados.

Now, this was my first time flying as a wheelchair dependant person, and nerves were high. Wheelchairs and airlines aren’t always the best combo. I removed my cushion for safety but, in hindsight, should’ve taken the whole chair apart, one crucial side panel went missing. Panic. But the cruise line came to the rescue, dismantling a shop display to jury-rig a solution, followed by a ship’s carpenter crafting a bespoke side panel out of metal and perspex. I felt like a VIP pirate with custom gear.

The cruise? Divine. All British passengers (unexpected), ridiculously kind staff, and an itinerary straight out of a honeymoon catalog. We hadn’t had a proper holiday in six years, so this was overdue. One particularly epic moment was doing a helmet dive...yes, like underwater astronauts. They had railings, I had determination, and we made it work. I walked underwater. Snorkeling? Yep, did that too. My chair was simply placed onto a boat, and off we went.

And the best part? For 20 glorious minutes underwater, I felt just like everyone else.

There were bumps along the way, but every issue was met with creativity and kindness. The whole trip was a much-needed breather after a wild year involving surgery, fundraising events, and, of course, rugby obsession. (I did try to auction off the trip for the Chiefs, but my wife vetoed that faster than you can say “passport.”)

Would I do it again? Already booked.

So, massive shoutout to ITV, Ant & Dec, and the Saturday night takeaway for a surreal, unforgettable, sunshine-soaked slice of magic. You truly made this rugby fan’s year.