NBC's Red Nose Day charity fundraiser extravaganza kicked off with a special celebrity edition of American Ninja Warrior, and a variety of stars came out to try their best at conquering one of the legendary obstacle courses. As the whole point was to raise money and awareness for charity, most of the celebrities cheated a little bit to get as far as they could, but Arrow star Stephen Amell took no shortcuts. By the time he was done, he even got to tackle his signature Arrow obstacle: the salmon ladder. Take a look!
Holy abdominal muscles, Batman! Stephen Amell channeled his inner superhero through the whole course, and even I as an Arrow fan had my doubts that he would make it past the Floating Steps obstacle, but he beasted his way through the whole first course. In fact, the only other competitor who made it to the Warped Wall without cheating was Olympic decathlete Ashton Eaton. That alone is an accomplishment any actor should be proud of!
As it turns out, Stephen Amell actually made it further than Ashton Eaton. After making it up the Warped Wall and hitting the buzzer, Amell declared that he wasn't done and moved on to the back course that wasn't specially designed for celebrities. It was on this back American Ninja Warrior course that he encountered the salmon ladder, which he powered his way up with those abs that Arrow fans everywhere have had reason to ogle.
Since every conquered obstacle on the special Celebrity Ninja Warrior course won $5,000 for charity, Amell ended up winning $35,000 for the Red Nose Day cause. His run of the Celebrity Ninja Warrior course fulfilled his wish of the past several years, as he has been vocal about wanting to give American Ninja Warrior a try. He must be pretty thrilled at his success, both for the fact that he helped a good cause and because it would have been pretty embarrassing if he fell while on the salmon ladder of all things. The Warped Wall or Floating Steps? Sure. But not the salmon ladder. Although he did ultimately fall, it wasn't on the salmon ladder.
Stephen Amell's Red Nose Day run comes only a day after the grand finale of Arrow Season 5, which may or may not have killed off a whole bunch of characters. Luckily, it set up Season 6 perfectly in some key ways, and it answered many huge questions that fans have had for years. The show will return in the fall in a new time slot.
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