World Wild Web

I’ve been involved in this sort of stuff since I was really young. My dad taught me to climb when I was about five or six,and then my job with the British Special Forces was to teach combat survival. I was a scout from a very young age as well,which is a big part of learning a lot of the basics. I’m so proud to be a chief scout for all the scouts around the world.

Was there ever a time when you almost lost the battle to nature?

I’ve had lots of close encounters,whether it’s with sharks or nasty snakes in jungles,or in the high mountains. I’ve very nearly died in a free fall accident in Africa whilst I was in the army and I fractured my back in three places. I was very lucky to walk away from that 18 months later.

Every adventure you have is unique. But is there a survival technique that is standard across all of them?

The keys to survival are protection,rescue,water and food. These priorities are the same whatever part of the world or terrain you’re in. First it’s protection from the weather because that can kill you very fast. Then it’s about rescue,setting yourself up to be rescued,making sure you’re visible. And then it’s about finding water and food.

You took Jake Gyllenhaal into the wild for two whole days. What was it like?

The Jake episode came about because he was on a chat show and he was joking about what it was like being famous. He said it’s great. If he ever needed something,he’d ring up his friend Gordon Ramsey. Or if he got lost in the wild,he’d ring up Bear. I watched and my wife asked,“Do you know Jake?” I said,“No”. So I dropped him an email and said why don’t we go on an adventure together. He just went “Yes,that would be fun”.

What do you do when you aren’t fighting for survival in Man Vs Wild?

One of the hardest things is that I am away from home a lot and I have three young boys and I really miss them. We live on a little island off the North Wales coastline and we always have so many adventures out there.

What do you dream of doing when you retire?

I don’t even want to dream about it. I just love what I am doing.