Australian Ninja Warriors

WTAF: ‘Australian Ninja Warrior’ Disqualified A Deaf Contestant Last Night & Viewers Are Pissed

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While Australian Ninja Warrior is absolutely killin’ it in ratings – peaking at an unbelievable 3 million viewers last night – the reality competition has come under fire for its disqualification of a contestant with a disability.

Last night, deaf contestant Paul Cashion was introduced to the game, saying in his intro, “I want all deaf people and all people with impairments to see me tonight and think that they can be on the show too”. It was a sweet moment and really tugged at the heart-strings.

Viewers were told that as Paul couldn’t hear the buzzer and sirens during the course, so he was relying on signals from his step-son Josh. On the first obstacle he slipped off the board, and his feet hit the water – which is a automatic disqualification. But Paul kept going on to the next challenge because he was unable to hear the siren (well, duh). He only eventually stopped because he saw Josh motioning. It hit straight to the feels and was torturous to watch. Check it out below:

#NinjaWarriorAU

An incredible attempt by Paul, with a disappointing disqualification. #NinjaWarriorAU

Posted by Australian Ninja Warrior on Sunday, 16 July 2017

 

The entire ordeal was slammed online as poorly handled and edited. Viewers weren’t shy venting their frustrations on Twitter.

Here’s some of what Twitter was saying about the series’ treatment of Paul:

Header via Twitter.