SIXTY SECONDS With
THE SAS: WHO DARES WINS STAR, 45, TALKS AFGHANISTAN EXIT, HANGING WITH ROB DELANEY AND HIS STRUGGLES WITH MENTAL HEALTH
Should I call you Foxy or just Jason?
Whatever you’re comfortable with. I was known as Foxy in the military, and me, my three brothers and my dad were all called Foxy in the house. The only thing I don’t like – and it always happens in print – is when someone says, ‘Jason “Foxy” Fox’. I don’t know why but I just hate it!
What were you expecting from Rob Delaney and Maya Jama on your new show, Foxy’s Fearless 48 Hours With…?
I was excited about Rob because I’d loved his character in Deadpool 2. I’d seen Maya on Peter Crouch’s show and she seemed like fun, although we were polar opposites: she’s a 27-year-old woman, cool as, while I’m knocking on middle age.
Do they have the makings of a Royal Marine? Maybe Rob if, when he was younger, he could have hacked being shouted at. Maya would tell them to bugger off. She’s got her
Polar opposite:. own definition of discipline rattling around in her brain and it’s not the military sense of the word.
The show is about pushing yourself. What’s your limit? Russian roulette, probably. Other than something that’s idiotically suicidal, I get a lot out of pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I’m still human, I still get scared and that’s part of the beauty of it all when that feeling turns into adrenaline and excitement. I do something with Maya that I once said I’d never do.
Did you have to read out your name as ‘Jason “Foxy” Fox’? No, it’s even worse – I had to write it!
Why did you follow your dad into the Royal Marines?
I grew up in not the nicest place and was pretty rubbish at school. At 16, I realised I had the potential to get into trouble and decided I needed to do something about that. I thought the military would be the right thing for me.
Did it live up to expectations?
I was physically ready but all the mundane stuff hit me hard: washing, ironing, folding clothes and getting ready on time. Constantly being the troop handbrake because I was so young, that was a massive shock to the system. Once I got a grip of that, I loved it.
What if your children wanted to follow you into the military?
I’d tell them to think long and hard about whether it was right for them.
I realised I had the potential to get into trouble. The military was the right thing for me
Once I’d made sure they had thought about it properly, I’d be fully behind them, as my parents were with me.
How hard was it to open up about your mental health problem?
It was hard. When it suddenly dawned on me that I had something going on, I lied to myself about it for a long time. It took a few years to be totally honest. Even when I shared it with my therapist, I was bulls***ting myself as to how serious it was.
What have you made of the hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan?
I kept in touch with people I’d worked with out there and they were contacting me about visas when people thought the process might take 90 days. Then, when it happened over a weekend, it was disastrous. I went from being nostalgically sad to angry. Then I realised that, morally, I did the best job I could possibly do in the circumstances. I left the military in 2012 so I’m quite detached from it now but I do get upset. There was a much better way of doing it.
How was lockdown for you?
You learn how to manage your time and set structure in the military. Trips to Afghanistan are almost like six-month lockdowns but then almost every time you got to go out, you got shot at. I rolled with it and learnt to embrace the boredom. I also bought a set of CDs and got back into mixing. Who Dares Spins, there you go!
Did you have any reservations about doing television?
It pains me to think I’m doing this because if someone had done this when I was in the military, I’d have been like, ‘Are you serious?’ But I found myself in serious financial schtuck with no job and medically discharged with PTSD, which didn’t lend itself very well to the jobs that would have suited me. Then a mate gave me a job looking after a TV crew. It went well and my name came up when they were discussing SAS: Who Dares Wins.
Have you been in touch with former host Ant Middleton since he was axed from the show?
A little bit but we all spent a good portion of time living in a very small room together, smelling each other’s farts, talking about s***. When it finishes, you’re happy to just leave until the next time.
Foxy’s Fearless 48 Hours With… begins on Sunday at 10pm on Channel 4
THE parents of Natasha EdnanLaperouse, who died aged 15 from a reaction to a baguette, say she would be ‘very proud’ of a law in her name that means all ingredients must be listed on labels from today.