Joey Essex crowned winner of The Jump

The TOWIE star beat Mike Tindall and Louise Hazel to win the title

Joey Essex has been named winner of The Jump 2015 (PA)

Reality star Joey Essex has been crowned champion of the celebrity series The Jump.

In only his second jump in Channel 4's winter sports competition, the star of The Only Way Is Essex managed a distance of 17.5m to beat ex-England rugby captain Mike Tindall and Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning heptathlete Louise Hazel for the title.

After his victory, Essex said: “I just went for it. When It comes (to it) and I put my mind to it - I just do it man.”

Tindall - who was watched by wife Zara Philips in the crowd at Jump Mountain in Kuhtai, Austria, said of Essex's victory: “When he has to do it, he does it.”

Both Tindall and Hazel cleared 17m in the deciding ski jumps. She hit a speed of 70mph down the slope and later joked “that's faster than my car”.

Essex and his rivals - Tindall, Hazel, Made In Chelsea's Louise Thompson, Paralympian Jon-Allan Butterworth and television presenter Chloe Madeley - competed in a series of sports including ski cross, the air jump and the ski jump in the battle to take home the Cowbell Trophy.

Tindall and Hazel had also recorded the same distance - of 16.5m - to qualify for the championship-deciding final ski jumps against Essex.

Thompson missed out on a place in the top three after managing 15m in an earlier round behind Essex who landed a 15.5m ski jump.

Essex, who had shown consistent form throughout the contest, made it to the final ski jump series despite being one of the three slowest celebrities in the ski cross race along with Butterworth and Madeley.

Essex had reached a height of 6.91m in the elimination air jump to get the last place in the championship decider.

Madeley managed 6.73m in the air jump while Butterworth reached a height of 6.30m.

PA