Daily Mail - 29.08.2019

Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 2019 Page 

ARE YOU CRACKERS

,

JAMES?

He nearly died in a cycle

crash. Now Strictly star’s

got a powerful motorbike

HIS divorce was finalised a

mere seven weeks ago.

Now Olympic gold medallist

James Cracknell has not only

found a younger blonde girl-

friend, he has also treated him-

self to a shiny boy’s toy.

The 47-year-old rower turned up

for the launch of this year’s Strictly

Come Dancing astride a gleaming

800cc motorcycle.

Cracknell arrived at the BBC

studios in motorbike leathers,

boots and helmet riding the Honda

VFR800F – something that might

have sent shivers down the spine

among the show’s producers.

In 2010, the father of three nearly

died when his bicycle was hit by a

petrol tanker.

Cracknell, who was crossing the

US for a TV documentary, sus-

tained serious head injuries when

the truck’s wing mirror struck the

back of his head on Route 66.

Although he was wearing a hel-

met, his skull was broken in two

places. He was left in a coma and

suffered brain damage that he has

revealed left him with a short tem-

per, memory loss and an altered

personality. During his months of

recovery, he admitted he was lucky

to have survived the crash.

A fortnight ago, Cracknell suf-

fered a far less serious prang with

a minicab driver in London, after

which he tweeted that he’d had a

‘slight wobble’ but had suffered

only ‘a bit of road rash and dam-

aged ego’ and a ‘bust finger’.

He said he had feared his Strictly

hopes were nearly over before they

began, adding: ‘To be honest I’ve

got more chance of winning the

Tour [de France] than winning

Strictly Come Dancing. But in for

a penny.’

Cracknell, who won Olympic

gold in 2000 and 2004, signed up

for Strictly after splitting from his

wife of 17 years, TV presenter

Beverley Turner. At the weekend,

he went public with his new girl-

friend Jordan Connell. He and the

33-year-old American finance stu-

dent, whom he met while studying

philosophy at Cambridge Univer-

sity, were pictured kissing in a

London park.

Miss Turner, 45, openly criticised

Cracknell for deciding to enrol at

Cambridge and become the oldest

participant to take part in the

Boat Race, in which he helped

Cambridge beat Oxford.

But she has been supportive of

his appearance on Strictly, despite

reportedly banning him from tak-

ing part in the past.

However, she has poked fun at

his dancing abilities, saying: ‘Pre-

pare to see James completely up

the creek without a paddle.’

By Kelly Allen

Why Ollie and Harrison mean

Mohammed isn’t the No 1 name

MOHAMMED is not the most popular boy’s

name in the country, the official in charge

of compiling the statistics said yesterday.

It is usually thought that the Muslim

name is most common for babies when all

its variant spellings, including Muham-

mad, are added together.

But there are more Olivers if the short-

ened version, Ollie, is included – and more

Harrys if Harrison, Harris and other vari-

ants are thrown in, Nick Stripe of the Office

for National Statistics revealed.

Speaking on the eve of the publication of

the list of the top baby names for 2018, Mr

Stripe said: ‘Every year, many commenta-

tors conclude that if you add up all the

different ways of spelling Muhammad, it

would be the most popular boy’s name.

There is a clear rationale for doing so, as

each spelling simply reflects an alterna-

tive transliteration of the name from dif-

ferent languages into English.’

But the ONS did not count different spell-

ings of the same root as one name because

it would not be objective, he said. In 2017,

there were 6,259 Olivers and 788 Ollies

born in England and Wales, a total of 7,047.

This outnumbered the ,691 Muhammads,

87 Mohammads, and 1,982 Mohammeds,

a total of 6,510. ‘You can try the same with

all the Harrys, Harrises and Harrisons,’ Mr

Stripe said. ‘Some might even want to add

in all the Henrys as well. Prince Harry is

called Henry, after all.’

Babies are now named after characters

from Downton Abbey, Peaky Blinders or

Game Of Thrones, he said. Even Moham-

med is in decline as Muslim parents join the

trend of picking more individual names.

Midlife crisis? James Cracknell, in bike leathers, with his Honda VFR800F at the BBC studios

New girl: Cracknell with Jordan Connell, , at the weekend

By Steve Doughty

Social Affairs Correspondent

Riding off: The 47-year-old hits the road

Pictures: BACKGRID