Eddie the Eagle

“The only airline I avoid like the plague is Ryanair. I don't like that, when you book, there are then all of these little extras to pay for, and you end up paying more than just flying with...”

“You can't have Alan Partridge as Eddie the Eagle!”

“I did a tandem parachute jump when I opened a golf course in Atlanta, Georgia. I jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet to land on the first tee, and then I played a couple of holes with golfe...”

“After my ski jumping career finished, I went back to school to study law, and now I travel between five to 20 times a year doing after-dinner speaking, motivational talks, appearances, openi...”

“I was a latchkey kid. Every afternoon, I would walk home from school, let myself in, make myself a banana buttie, and watch telly until Mum came home.”

“I can't explain my popularity. I suppose I'm just an ordinary bloke, and a lot of people see a little bit of Eddie in themselves.”

“In my case, there are only two kinds of hope - Bob Hope and no hope.”

“That James Bond movie? The one where Bond skis off a cliff, shucks his skis, and parachutes to the ground? That's for me. That's what I want to be. A stuntman in a Bond movie.”

“I liked being Eddie the Eagle, but I also like being Michael Edwards, plasterer and general builder.”

“The failures are the people who never get off their bums.”

“My dad supported me by working extra hours and giving me a little bit of extra money. He bought my camper van for me so I could go into Europe and drive from competition to competition.”

“I wish they'd build a ski jump at the Grand Canyon; it'd be fantastic.”

“The worst thing that happened to me as a child was seeing my brother get pushed into a cement mixer.”

“I would never think of asking a girl out on the High Street or the disco or at school. But on the ski slope, I would chat to all the girls.”

“I have a big chin. Thick glasses.”

“Both parents were hard-working and made me work for my pocket money by doing household chores. That taught me the value of money and gave me a strong work ethic.”

“I was like the George Clooney of the ski business.”

“It was while I was in the mental hospital that I got my letter from the British Olympic Association saying, 'Congratulations. You've been picked to go to the Olympic Games.' I kept stressing...”

“It takes a lot of guts to jump. If people criticise, I would give them a set of skis and say, 'Do it yourself then.'”

“When I trained with the Japanese team, there we'd be singing Oasis songs at the top of our voices at the top of the jumps. People thought we were daft.”