How you can take part in celeb charity cycle in memory of Sun fitness guru Nicki Waterman who asked pal Denise van Outen to ‘help others’ before she died
We are giving two readers the chance to join Denise and team of celebrities in March next year on 187-mile India bike ride to help raise funds for Brain Tumour Research charity
SUN fitness expert Nicki Waterman lived her life helping others – and even as she battled a rare and ferocious brain tumour she continued to inspire readers to get out and exercise.
In her final days the 53-year-old told family, friends and celebrity clients: “There is nothing you can do for me now — but please help others.”
Now her daughter, Alex Thrussell, and friend, TV presenter and actress Denise van Outen, are joining forces to do just that.
Together with TheSun on Sunday, they are recruiting celebrities to take part in the challenge. And YOU can join them.
The group will be cycling 187 miles across India in The Nicki Waterman Kerala Challenge (#NWKC2017) to raise awareness and funds for the charity Brain Tumour Research to improve survival rates across the UK.
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Nicki was one of the 2,200 people diagnosed with glioblastoma in the UK every year — just 20 per cent of whom are still alive a year later.
Denise, 42, said: “Just before Nicki died I asked her if there was anything I could do for her and that is when she asked me to help others. She was always so determined — to help me get fit, to help other people, to fight her illness.
“She would love this challenge and I am proud we are doing this for her. It will just be strange, and very sad, preparing for this without Nicki by my side.”
Nicki has always had determination — she became a personal trainer after piling on weight during her pregnancies with Alex, now 31, and son Harry, 29. She lost 5st and transformed her life.
It was through her work that Nicki — who has also put stars including Kelly Brook, Rachel Hunter and girlband All Saints through their paces — met Denise.
The TV star said: “I have undertaken physical challenges before for charity. I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Comic Relief and trekked the Great Wall of China for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
“Nicki made sure I was ready for each one. She made certain I was mentally and physically prepared for everything I did with work, to be honest. Before I did Strictly and stage productions she got me ready.
“When I was pregnant with my daughter Betsy she continued to train me on Hampstead Heath. She did a lot of her work there in North London near her home, in the fresh air.”
Denise instantly warmed to the trainer.
She said: “We became very close friends. If I had personal problems or relationship issues I would turn to Nicki. We would go on a power walk and talk it through.
“She would be the first person I would think to chat to when I was in the car on a long journey.
“She always gave the advice and helped you walk away with a clear head. She wasn’t just a fitness expert, she was like a life coach.
“She was always so upbeat, always so positive. She stayed like that right up until the end.”
And Nicki was just as passionate about her Sun readers.
Denise said: “She truly adored the paper. She loved helping people — she was so inspirational.
“If I felt a bit down sometimes she would say, ‘Oh you should have read what I wrote last week in the paper — it would have helped you’.
“She would tell me about the readers who had written to her. She cared about everybody. She was so passionate about what she did.
“She practised what she preached, too — she was healthy.
“If she hadn’t have been so fit and health-conscious the doctors don’t think she would have been able to survive as long as she did.
“Because of that she had a chance to say goodbye and ask us to continue her work. That is all I can do now.”
Nicki, a doting grandmother of two, was diagnosed with the rare and aggressive brain tumour the size of a golf ball in May last year.
Even after she knew it was too late to fight for her own life, she fought on for others.
She trialled groundbreaking immune therapy treatment, suffering horrendous side-effects, and lobbied the Government to invest more in brain tumour research. She also campaigned to get the treatment she underwent widely available on the NHS.
Doctors said she would be lucky to live until February, but in March she revealed the tumour had shrunk — only for it to return months later. She passed away in August.
Denise said: “By doing this challenge we hope to help save the lives of others who are struck with the same condition.”
Today we are giving two readers the chance to join Denise, Alex and a team of celebrities in March next year.
The six-day trip — backed by Skechers, which is also covering the challenge costs for one of our lucky Sun on Sunday winners — will include five days of cycling in Kerala, on the south west coast of India. The longest day will be seven hours, travelling over 55miles.
The group will go to Cochin, explore the backwaters of Kerala, cycle to a wildlife park, visit a tropical rainforest and trek through coffee and spice plantations.
There will be visits to the Periyar tiger reserve, Kodanad Elephant Rescue Centre and the chance to try local produce. Accommodation will be in guesthouses and house boats and riders will be able to chat to workers in tea plantations.
Denise said: “Nicki knew I loved a challenge. She wouldn’t be surprised we are doing this for her.
“It will be tough, but we will also make sure it is fun.
“Nicki would be thrilled we are taking two readers with us. It would mean so much to her.
“We are asking for people to write in with their own inspiring story — it could be about them or they could be nominating somebody else. They may even want to do it in memory of someone who is no longer here, just like we are doing.
“There is plenty of time to train — I am going to go to spinning classes to get fit. You don’t have to be super-fit but you do have to be ready for a challenge. It is going to be brilliant.”
The ride has been designed especially for Denise by independent fundraising tour operator Charity Challenge (), which puts together challenges including group cycling, walking and horse riding trips so that people can raise funds for their own good cause.
How you can join in
TELL us your inspirational story of courage to be in with a chance of winning a place on the trip.
Email sundayfeatures @the-sun.co.uk with NICKI WATERMAN KERALA CHALLENGE in the subject line and in no more than 250 words explain who you are nominating and why. To make a donation, go to
T&Cs: Competition closes at midnight on November 28. Over-18s and residents of the UK only. One entry per person. The winners will be selected by judges Denise van Outen and Alex Thrussell. There is no cash alternative to prize in whole or in part. Prize is non-transferable. Your information will only be used for the purposes of this competition. Promoter News Group Newspapers Ltd. Not open to staff of the Promoter and promotional partner or their families.
