Adam Hills (Paralymics Campaigner) On Lorraine [23.08.2024]

the par Olympics just days away my next guest is preparing to head to Paris as his hit show The Last Leg returns daily for the event and Adam Hills is also fronting a documentary about his own personal campaign for a brand new sport to be included in the Paralympics I always wanted to play tennis the aim when I first started was to be world number one that's pretty good yeah this isn't going to go well is it the trickiest part of that is there was no way for people with disabilities like mine hey we're all disabled here to play tennis at a high level oh B yeah but then I found something called Paris standing tennis my mission have Paris standing tennis played at the Grand Slam tournaments have it part of the par Olympics and the ongoing quest for world domination I love it foot fault will be on Sky documentaries on Monday and Adam joins me now I watched this yesterday today it's absolutely brilliant cuz it's it's about you and about your desire to actually get a brand new sport which for able-bodied people we wouldn't have we love uh wheelchair tennis I think it's exciting but for you actually it's not the end of the story no because I mean if you've got one arm you can't use a wheelchair if you're short statured if you've got several py or if you're like me you've got one foot but you've never used a wheelchair it doesn't make sense for me to get into a wheelchair so this this form of tennis has accidentally kind of excluded a whole bunch of people from playing against each other but you were brilliant at tennis as a kid and now it turns out you're still brilliant AR it like look I I played a lot when I was a kid I was a coach when I was like 18 1920 when I started doing standup comedy I would coach by day and then do standup at night so it was something that I did a lot but you know there was just nowhere for me to go I could never go to the Paralympics I could never I've never played against other people with disabilities until this documentary it's incredible what was it that then made you do what was it that sparked this idea a year ago or two years ago whenever it was like I'm going to do something about this it well rather than S to sit back and go oh what a shame it's not there it actually started in 2008 when I was at the Beijing paral and the at the end of the games the coach of the Australian wheelchair tennis team said to me do you want to get in a wheelchair and start playing and I was like yeah but I don't use a wheelchair he said yeah but we think you qualify and it just didn't feel right I don't play tennis sitting down I play it standing up so ever since then I've had this little nagging thing and I've been searching online disability tennis it always came up as wheelchair and then about a year and a half ago it came up as Paris standing tennis and I went oh hello there is a way in so but at the there's a few hundred people is there there's about 300 people worldwide I think and it's so that's that's hardly any really well actually there's 300 that we know of yes because the thing about this form of tennis is if you've got one arm you're probably playing against your mates anyway exactly so don't know who the best in the world is cuz they're out there somewhere they just don't know about us and they will do because you're shouting about it now and what I don't want to give too much away obviously because the documentary is out it's just so fun to watch actually it's frustrating for you at times isn't it there's a frustration there but there's such a great camarad it's really funny the way you take the Mickey out of each other when you're playing I mean it's brilliant to watch but there is a fantastic bit where Andy Murray is playing next door this meeting was completely by chance completely by chance so we had a come and try day at the national tennis center and there was two courts that were curtained off and I could hear people behind the curtains just like as they were hitting and I was like who are those idiots yeah who are those people grunting away and then someone went oh um Andy Murray wants to come out and say hi Oh that guy yeah okay he's cameras come over yeah and so you do need a lot more high-profile support do you is that what you're like looking for now and how far have you got with it well we've got the the international tennis Federation have set up a task force to start looking into the future of Paris standing tennis um I played at Wimbledon last week as part of the play your way to Wimbledon program how was that it was amazing it was the four of us Paris standing tennis players showcasing the sport so that more people know about it so we're slowly getting there but everyone I talk to like Andy Murray or Pat cash who's also in the documentary they all say why hasn't this happened before I don't understand why we've not done this before so it's I think it's going to take off because there are so many people like I say so many people out there yes but they said something in the documentary about it's got you've got to push another sport out is that still the case for the par Olympics yeah for the Paro Olympics there's only a limited number of sort of different sports they can have so par standing tennis goes in who are you now going to kick out I don't know I mean it's got to I I'd say par archery but they can come after you you know what I mean like yeah yeah you can't run from them yeah but that's the diff I mean a way that is the difficulty of of the the games isn't it is that there's a finite amount of time to get everything in yes but everybody deserves to be there absolutely absolutely so look you know I I think Grand Slams are probably a more achievable goal um there is a there is a Invitational Tournament being played at the US Open next week in Paris standing tennis right the Australian Open uh is possibly going to adopt what we did last year uh when it comes around next year so it's it's kind of taking off it's amazing and the last leg you're going out to Paris aren't you yes to present the day tell us a bit about what we can expect of from the last leg oh my goodness well uh I mean we don't know we don't know until day the fly basically yeah um the the nice thing is we'll actually be in Paris cuz we weren't in Tokyo because of so we'll be there we're bringing out different comedians every day uh to go to the events to be filmed at the events and then come and talk about them later that night and look I I've even written a book about the Paralympics I brought up for you it's a children's book this is this is the is it third one it is the third one the third one of the children's game now my producers went ask him about his mullet like but you don't look like you've got one so I'm I've decided to support the Australian team I got my haircut into a tiny mullet it's not no that's not a mullet I think you're pretending it's I I need it to grow out it's a moule m it's not quite the full thing yet it's not quite the there it'll grow out over the next couple of weeks no I mean what I have to say the par Olympics I think in 2012 for us in the UK was so incredible I mean it was as high-profile as excit you know for the first time I think in the UK we just bloody LED it I've said before in Sydney 200000 was the first time the paralympians were treated as equals and 2012 in London was the first time they were treated as Heroes and for me to see I remember seeing um Paralympics GV coming to the stadium fireworks going off David Bowie we can be heroes playing and I remember watching go I wish I was disabled yes went oh I am awesome I want to be toally forget and it's lovely cuz your mom features in the documentary as well where you know she gets out all your old trophies and um there must be something in her that is so proud of you for for what you've achieved both in comedy and now in sport they really is but and and something that I've realized through making this documentary is that you know I'm pushing the sport ahead because you know I want kids to have this chance to see that they can become tennis players of the future but what I've realized while doing it is the parents benefit as well because if you're a parent of a child with disability you wonder what future they're going to have you really care about what they can and can't do ab you show us all what can be achieved thanks so much FS on Monday at 900 pm. on Sky documentaries and on now TV