Home and Away child star Shaun Wood is UNRECOGNISABLE on Ultimate Tag

He got his break in television playing Christopher Fletcher alongside TV sister Kate Richie on Home and Away.

But Shaun Wood, 32, looks very different now for his role on another Channel Seven program.

The former child star will play Hollywood on the upcoming sports competition show Ultimate Tag.

Wood, who featured on the TV soap from the ages of three to 10, is one of Australia’s top professional Parkour athletes, according to The Daily Telegraph. 

Parkour involves getting from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and is usually achieved by running, climbing and jumping. 

But he still remembers his time on the iconic soap fondly, adding that he always knew the show that gave him his start ‘was something special’.

It also lit a creative fuse within him, that led to him joining Ultimate Tag as a cast member.

‘I think Home and Away sparked that lifelong desire to be creative through film and movement basically,’ said the Newcastle native.   

Channel Seven’s upcoming sports competition show Ultimate Tag looks set to be one of the toughest reality shows on television when it debuts next month.

According to The Daily Telegraph, athletes who join the show could exercise and train for up to seven hours a day in preparation. 

‘Ultimate Tag is deadly serious for its stars, who train up to seven hours a day and risk serious injury,’ the publication reported on Saturday.

One of the show’s athletes Michael Khedoori, a parkour, focuses on his mobility by climbing buildings around Sydney.  

‘I don’t do any muscle work in the gym because it’s really just all about building speed and endurance,’ Michael said.

In fact, the 19-year-old told the newspaper that there is a whole community of parkour athletes who do so. 

‘It can get awkward. But we understand that people don’t always want guys running and jumping off their buildings. We’re used to it now.’

In July, a preview for the new series was uploaded to Channel Seven’s YouTube page asking for applicants. 

‘It’s the game you played as a kid, but not like this,’ begins a voiceover, with children seen laughing and chasing each other around a lawn.

The trailer then cuts to a sports arena, with adults chasing each other through an obstacle course as an audience cheers them off.

The show is described as ‘the fastest, most intense game on Earth’ with the premiere date set for sometime next year.

‘Who will be Australia’s ultimate tag champion?’ finishes the voiceover.

‘This new prime time TV show is the ultimate version of everyone’s favourite schoolyard game,’ reads the application.

‘If you love running, jumping, climbing and dodging, this unique, big-event competition is for you!

‘Speed, fitness and agility will be rewarded. We’re looking for men and women who want to challenge themselves against the fittest, fastest and most daring athletes in the country.

‘Sports-lovers, fitness freaks and superheroes in training… everyone is welcome to try out!’

Applicants must be 16 years or older, with ‘a huge cash prize on offer for the best male and female players’. 

The show first premiered in the US earlier this year, with Seven now adapting it for Australian audiences. It will be hosted by Abbey Gelmi and Matt Shirvington.

Ultimate Tag begins in March on  Channel 7