Our ‘At Home’ Celebrity Competition Winners!

We have a FANTASTIC line-up of Celebrity Teams Captains taking part in our new At Home Superheroes challenge this summer and they’re (virtually) joining forces with some equally awesome competition-winning teammates!

This summer’s competition is dedicated to all the amazing SUPERHERO FAMILIES who provide the crucial love and support that allows each member’s individual superpowers to flourish. We had some incredible entries, which made choosing the winners extremely difficult!

Read on for some super stories and to meet the winning teams – and you can follow many of their home triumphs on the Channel 4 At Home Superheroes highlights programme on 15 August!

#TeamAdam

Challenge details: The four families who make up Elvi’s Genies are aiming for a minimum of 5km each over a number days in their local London parks using a range of gadgets and gismos, from bikes and wheelchairs to rollerblades and skateboards! All the way down in Melbourne, Adam is doing a mix of sprinting and jogging for his 5km target, with his dog and “hopefully” kids by his side.

Meet the SUPER family: This big, broad, beautiful ‘family’ know the true power of friendship. The strong network of London mums has been a great support to each other over the years and their combined creativity has produced two books and a musical app (The Treehouse at Number 9 series), about kids who use their disabilities as superpowers, to celebrate difference through storytelling.

They’ll be out in force to support their Superheroes! Elvi, who has a rare form of dwarfism, LOVES wheelchair skating and will be travelling at speed for the challenge pushed by her rollerblade-clad Sidekick Mum Sam! Sports-loving Louis, who has two rare chromosomal conditions and was the inspiration for the Treehouse series, will be doing his stage on his bike. And Jess, who has a rare genetic condition and is the Treehouse ambassador, is currently studying for A-levels and will be running her stage, despite having surgery to remove a brain tumour only earlier this year.

#TeamAnne

Meet the SUPER family: team Life changed dramatically for Emerson and his family when a spinal cord injury, caused by a reoccurring arachnoid cyst on his spine, paralysed him from the chest down. But with his signature smile he remains positive, strong and active, and has taken part in every Superhero Tri since the Series began! He is always whizzing around in his manual wheelchair putting the ability into disability and proving that anything is possible for this five-year-old Superhero!

#TeamDave

Meet the SUPER team: The two youngest members of The Fantastic Shaws are only five and three, but they know just how to help their Daddy. Ben is a veteran soldier from 3rd Battalion the Rifles who was injured in roadside bomb in Iraq 2007, which resulted in him losing his sight completely. His two resilient and awesome little helpers are always ready to guide him or showing him things through touch. “We never take life too seriously and always see the funny side, even when Shay plays football with Dad and puts him in goal!” says Mum Lou. “We feel that every disability is just an opportunity to learn to do things a different way.”

#TeamJJ

Challenge details: This military family of international veterans are attempting a truly epic 2020km +1km in a symbolic salute to the Invictus Games The Hague, which has been postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic. Between them they will use a mix of cycling, elliptical running, rowing, handcycling and wheelchair racing over the month to reach their momentous goal. Their Celebrity Team Captain JJ will be helping them hit their ambitious target on his trusty trike.

Meet the SUPER team: This team may be scattered across the globe, but they are very much united by their great love of sport. Jen served 12 years in the British Army as a doctor. She was medically discharged but has continued her career in medicine on four wheels as an NHS anaesthetist and has won multiple medals at the Invictus Games.

Two tours in Afghanistan working with an anti-explosives team took their toll on Bruno’s mental health after serving. But he could not be stopped and has gone on to open his own gym, represent Canada in the Invictus Games and even reached the North Pole!

Mark accumulated an incredible seven years on operational deployment over his 15-year career in the Australian Army. He represented Australia in the 2016 Invictus Games and has also been the cycling coach for Team Australia. He left the Army with both physical and psychological injuries, but found strength through sport, helping others and from his assistance dog Alba.

#TeamJordan

Meet the SUPER team: This resourceful Superhero has LMNA Congenital Muscular Dystrophy, but doesn’t let it get in her way. With the help of her parents, Carmela’s always finding inventive solutions to try new things and sport is generally top of her list! She’s been getting in plenty of training for the challenge during lockdown by whizzing down her cul de sac on her racerunner and when she couldn’t find any suitable online exercises to follow while in isolation, Carmela’s response was typically super! She’s been sharing weekly physio exercises via social media to help others like her and has attracted thousands of followers!

Sadly, her key-worker Dad has had to stay away from the family home to help shield Carmela, so she hasn’t been able to give him a cuddle since 15 March. However, he’ll be cheering on his Superhero loudly from a distance during her challenge!

#TeamJosh

Meet the SUPER team: What a winning attitude this Superhero has! Charlie has really missed his Special Olympics ski and athletics training over the past few months, but he hasn’t let it get him down. Instead, he has devised his own exercises programmes every week and has done them every single day during lockdown, without exception! He’s also a galvanising force for the whole family. “He helps his Dad do exercises and gets us all marching around Shoreham, for an hour every day, even if we don’t always feel like it!” says Mum Maxine. Good work Charlie!

#TeamKadeena

Meet the SUPER team: The family are regulars at the Superhero Series and their superpowers grow greater with every challenge! “The Superhero Series events have become a huge part of our year,” explains Dad Kevin. “What we collectively get from participating is invaluable. Each event allows us to grow in confidence and bank self-esteem for the future obstacles that come our way.”

Ethan has a rare condition called MPS 6. In his own words, “It makes me shorter, slower than other people my age. I miss lots of school, have lots of surgeries. My hands get very stiff, my back gets sore and I can't walk very far because I get very tired easily.” The family are delighted to be able to continue their Superhero journey this summer and are thrilled to be teaming up with Kadeena. “It has added some extra skip and spring into Ethan’s legs and our hearts,” says Kevin.

#TeamLiz

Meet the SUPER team: The Superhero force is strong in Jersey! The core team is made up of five amazing young Superheroes from four different local charities who want to show the nation the awesome superpowers of the Jersey people and will be encouraging all their friends and family to join the fun! The driving force behind the Ninjas are Harry and his Sidekick Mum Cirsty who are already seasoned Superhero Series participants. “After his first Superhero Tri in 2018 my son found a new confidence in his abilities and came home a different boy!” recalls Cirsty. She’s confident this super team, who are all extremely super-active in the Jersey community, will help spread the Superhero spirit to all four corners of this great island!

#TeamMegan

Meet the SUPER team: Despite her many weeks of shielding at home, Daisy has amazed her Mum and Dad with her bravery and resilience, qualities she’s had in abundance from the very beginning. “Daisy suffered a severe brain injury during birth and has been written off so many times but continues to fight,” says Dad Paul. “We feel privileged to be her parents and she’s our Superhero every day.” Daisy hasn’t let lockdown stop her from being active and she’s clocked up a super 1km a day doing laps of the garden in her wheelchair. The challenge has also encouraged the Dynamos beyond the local footpaths and closed roads, where they usually restrict their cycling, to the open roads for the first time!

#TeamMenna&Jen

Challenge details: The three families are each aiming for a goal of 5km in a number of different ways! Mum Jenni will run with Eve in her pushchair for most of the way, then Eve will do 100m by herself – a mix of walking, swimming and scaling the stairs! Imogen and Nancy’s families are aiming to loosely recreate the Superhero Tri format, with a swim, cycle and run over a few days in their local area to reach their target.

Meet the SUPER team: Don’t be fooled by their size. When this tiny trio get together, you can bet mischief and mayhem will follow! Our fabulous Series ambassador Eve and her parents initiated Nancy and Imogen into the Superhero world and now Superhero Tri is an annual highlight for the families and has helped forge a fabulous friendship between them all.

The trio have an extremely rare chromosome condition shared by only 50 people worldwide and when they first met, they set the world record for the largest ever gathering of children with 3p25 deletion syndrome! “The girls continue to transcend the medical prognosis of their condition and have taught their parents that they are not defined by the list of ‘disorders’ pertaining to their chromosomal make-up,” says Jenni. “They are feisty, independent, determined, hilarious and real forces of nature. Watch out world – a storm is coming!”

#TeamStephanie

Challenge details: The Dream Makers are doing a four-stage challenge in one day! Different combinations of teammates are aiming for a 5km walk, a 7km run, a 7km cycle on the spin bike and then everyone will end up in the pool or a 1km swim – with Lysander demonstrating his new armband-free swimming skills! Celebrity Team Captain Stephanie will be completing her 5km stage on a bike.

Meet the SUPER team: Sophie, who is a radiologist with a congenital hip condition and rare metabolic disease, has had a lively few months! “We’ve been shielding at my parents’ house and all living under one roof,” she says. “There are four adults, two children, two dogs and two cats, including four red heads! Life is CRAZY.” The family are shielding as Sophie can get sick very easily and has to be admitted to hospital four to six times a year. “This time in isolation whilst hard is also really special as I would normally be working in the hospital,” she says. “We are trying to make it as wonderful for our two boys as possible and this challenge has been a great incentive to keep us active as a family.”

#TeamStephen

Meet the SUPER team Dad says: Twins Ruben and Elena, who have been diagnosed with ADHD, put their exceptional levels of energy and intensity to super use. “They undertook a momentous challenge in 2017 to run 100km for the local children’s ward,” says Dad Mark. “This was done in all weathers, but in their eyes, they were doing it to help poorly kids get a new garden, so they can play and get better.” The twins have gone on to do many more charity runs and have been transformed as a result. “From being struggling children in a world still coming to terms with neurodiversity, they are now role models leading the way in showing the many positive characteristics of ADHD,” continues Mark. “It has been life-changing.” The twins have fundraised more than £33,000 to date and were awarded the British Citizen Youth Award in 2018 for their efforts.

#TeamSophie

Meet the SUPER team: You’d be hard pushed to find a more go-getting, sports-loving Superhero than Elan, and her super family support and encourage her passions in any way they can! Always up for a challenge, Elan’s two favourite sports are triathlon, sparked by her first Superhero Tri, and horse riding. This self-professed “dressage Diva” loves nothing more than getting out on her super pony Percy and hopes to follow in the footsteps of her great hero and Celebrity Team Captain Sophie Christiansen one day. And with dedication and determination like Elan’s, anything’s possible!