Professional bull rider Ty Murray will put nine stars in the saddle and test their mettle for his “Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge” (9 p.m. Friday, CMT).
In this six-part series, the stars submit themselves to rigorous training in an attempt to master the art of bull riding. Among the participants are rapper Vanilla Ice, actor Leif Garrett, Stephen Baldwin, Francesco Quinn and “Survivor” contestant Jonny Fairplay.
They have less than two weeks before making their public debut at a Professional Bull Riders (PBR) event. Most professional bull riders take years to get good enough to be seen in public.
This sport requires the athlete to remain on the back of a bucking bull for eight seconds. Rarely does it happen.
Murray, who has been riding for more than 20 years, will act as the stars’ mentor and harshest critic.
A producer contacted Murray a year and a half ago about doing the series.
As president of the PBR, Murray said he is always looking “for ways to bring people into the sport.
“I want people to be able to relate to our sports beyond the (notion of) ‘wow, that’s crazy,’” Murray said.
Professional bull riding has exploded in the United States in the past five years and is now one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.
Attendance at events is at an all-time high. NBC often broadcasts major bull riding events on Sunday afternoons.
Murray sees the series as a natural fit.
“This isn’t ‘oh, those are crazy cowboys hanging on for dear life.’ To me, there is no greater insult than that,” he said. “There is so much training and technique involved, and most people don’t see that.”
Physically, it’s about “fundamentals and dynamics,” he said, “and beyond that, there’s a lot going on mentally. You have to get all that under control. We’re talking about the most dangerous sport in the world. It is very violent and very dangerous.”
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