Former Gaywood gymnast reaches semi-finals of Australia's Ultimate Tag

A former Lynn gymnast made it to the semi-finals of Australia's Ultimate Tag TV show after challenging himself ahead of his 40th birthday.

No stranger to stepping outside of his comfort zone, Matt Barlow moved to Australia in 2015, where he now lives in Newcastle, New South Wales, with his wife, Emily, and two-year-old daughter Isla.

Mr Barlow, 39, who previously lived off Rosebery Avenue in Gaywood, said: "My wife and I were watching TV one night when an ad came on encouraging contestants to apply to compete in the first series of Ultimate Tag. I said to Emily that I reckon I would be pretty good and she urged me to apply.

"I have never done anything like this before. I wanted to challenge myself and push myself outside of my comfort zone. I also wanted to show my daughter that you can achieve anything if you push yourself."

He added: "I got a call a week later from someone from the show as I had partially completed the application form, they urged me to complete the application which required me to send a demo video. From there I got a an email inviting me to try-outs and a fitness test, then I got the call to appear on the show.

"I made it through to the semi-finals where I unfortunately slipped and got tagged which put me out of the competition immediately."

The show, which aired on 7flix TV last week, features Australians stepping up to the challenge against pro taggers who include some of the world's parkour stars, sports champions, gymnasts and martial arts pros.

With $100,000 in prize money up for grabs, the last standing male and female player takes the title of Australia’s first Ultimate Tag Champion.

A keen gynmast in his youth, Mr Barlow featured in the Lynn News in 1991 when he travelled with teammates to Russia to train, he was just 10-years-old at the time.

Pictured, Matt tries to outrun the pro-taggers.