ASPIRING magician Dan Allam showed he does have the magic touch by winning cult gameshow Winter Wipeout, despite suffering a serious back injury two years ago.

Dan Allam was crowned the champion of champions in the grand final of the first series of the BBC 1 show on Saturday, bagging himself a shiny trophy and £10,000 in the process.

Dan, a former Ledbury Rugby Club player, of Castle Frome, said: “I initially entered Winter Wipeout as a bit of fun and didn’t expect to win my heat, let alone go on to become the champion for the entire series.

“I had an incredible time taking part in the show and am slowly getting back to reality now that I’m back home.”

To scoop the top prize the 20-year-old had to better the efforts of 18 other finalists as they tackled a host of challenges on the notoriously wacky course in Argentina.

In the final Winter Wipeout zone round he began his charge for the line by being catapulted into a pool before climbing jolting stairs, avoiding inflatable ice picks and navigating two spinning wheels known as the impossible snowflakes.

His time of one minute 55 seconds gave him a winning margin of 32 seconds – although it was some 16 seconds slower than his course record.

His victory completes a remarkable recovery after he put his sporting career on hold after he sustained a serious injury while playing rugby which saw him airlifted to hospital. Surgeons diagnosed stress fractures to a vertebra and performed a fusion operation, where two bones were fixed together.

He suffered further injuries after returning to rugby and had a second operation to install titanium screws in his spine. For the popular show, Dan, a member of the Magic Circle, played up to the nickname of ‘Magic Dan’, even performing tricks and pulling a coin from presenter Amanda Byram’s ear.