TEAM PEDERSEN SET FOR TV DEBUT

Fans can follow the life of Speedway GP legend Nicki Pedersen and his family when his brand-new reality show Team Pedersen debuts on Denmark’s Kanal 5 at 20:00 CET tonight – or stream now on Discovery+ Denmark.

Pedersen has had an incredible past 12 months, starting the 2022 season in red-hot form with Grudziadz in the PGE Ekstraliga, only for his season to be ended by a badly broken hip and pelvis suffered on June 5.

Alongside his fight to get back on track for this season, Pedersen has taken on a new role as Denmark’s rider-manager ahead of the FIM Speedway World Cup in Wroclaw from July 25-29.

The series of 10 episodes follows Pedersen from Denmark to Dubai and everywhere in between, also featuring Nicki’s partner Natascha, her daughter Liva, 13, and Nicki’s daughter Mikkeline, 13, and his son Mikkel, 10.

Pedersen admits he had numerous offers from TV broadcasters to star in a reality show in the past. He said: “Over the last 10 years, some different TV stations and programmes have asked, but it hasn’t been the right time.

“Family wise, things are good now. Everything is working very well around me, so it was just the right time. The amount of money we get out of it could be an income for me, Natascha and the family.

“I could also feel that the production company is very, very professional. It’s about having that belief and trust in them too. From day one, there was a friendship with them. I trust them and they loved us. They could see there was potential.

“They followed us for some years, especially over the last six months on our social media. They said: ‘we just have to make a TV series about you guys because we love the way you are.’

“We are celebrity people, but we are still normal people. We are not trying to be posh people. We just want to be ourselves. If people like to watch that and follow it, they are more than welcome.

“They started filming with us in Dubai last February. They have been in Poland to watch some meetings. They have been with us in Sweden, Spain and of course Denmark.

“There were a lot of private things. A little bit was my racing. But 80 percent of it was about the family – the normal things we do with the family and the way we are. Viewers are going to get a good picture of me, the kids and the family. They have edited it in a good way and it’s an honest show, which I like very much.”

Pedersen is no stranger to the spotlight after two decades on world speedway’s biggest stage, which have seen him become one of the most talked-about riders in the sport’s history.

But he is pleased with the way his children also adapted to life in front of the camera. He said: “I didn’t know for 100 percent how they were going to react. I just want them to be themselves – that makes the best TV series and programme.

“I am very proud of the kids and Natascha. They have been so honest, and they have been very, very good on the programme. You don’t know how it will be with kids. Sometimes when the camera comes on, they pretend to be different people. They have just been themselves. That’s all I wanted.”