Davy’s lads have to forgo Everest to peak in Kerry
IT’S not just your holiday plans that were ruined by the pandemic.
The participants of Davy’s Toughest Team, a series that begins tomorrow night on RTÉ One, were supposed to go to Everest base camp to test their mettle.
Instead, they had to make do with the mountains of Co. Kerry, but Davy Fitzgerald, Wexford hurling coach, publican and TV host, said ‘the craic was still great’.
‘It was honestly some of the best fun I’ve ever had. The cameras were off this one night and we had this game of volleyball on the beach,’ he said.
‘It was a wonderful time. I learned a lot about the young men on the show and I learned a lot about myself as well.’
Best known on TV as presenter of Ireland’s Fittest Family, Fitzgerald returns this time with seven young men, all of whom have troubled backgrounds and are aged between 18 and 22.
The producers say the aim of the show was to see if say Davy’s ‘unique style of man-management’ could motivate seven young men, unlike any he has worked with before, to reach the base camp of the highest mountain in the world… Mount Everest.
They contacted youth support groups around the country for prospective candidates and came up with the final list of seven candidates who appear in the show.
Grappling with issues such as drug addiction, isolation, homelessness, unemployment and mental health challenges, life has thrown several curve-balls at these young men, said Fitzgerald.
The coach, who is the current Wexford hurling boss, said that for people who may think their lives are tough, the show is a wake-up call.
‘You might think you have it bad, especially with everything
going on, and then you look at these guys,’ he said. ‘One of the boys, he was very bad into drugs. He got into a hole and he couldn’t get out of it.
‘In the end, he stood on the edge of the Liffey and was thinking of throwing himself in.
‘But he came back from it and he’s gone out around the country now telling other young people who are in trouble that suicide is not the answer.’
Fitzgerald said that another of the participants had a family member who was murdered.
‘That’s just something that very few people would ever have to deal with – it is so hard.
‘But the show was about trying to help the lads to take small steps to help themselves.’
Fitzgerald said the production company, Animo, hired psychologists to oversee the series and they are still in touch with the young men on the show.
A clip from the show sees one of the participants explaining why he was taking part.
‘All I really need in my life is hope,’ he said.
‘Hope is a brilliant word – no matter what the story is, there has to be hope.
‘Every single person, no matter what, should be given hope.’
Fitzgerald came up with the idea for the show, having visited Everest
base camp on a charity run in 2012.They started filming this show last January and shot right through February.
Their tickets and permits for Everest were all bought but then the pandemic struck.
‘To say the lads were disappointed is an understatement.
‘It was a terrible blow – we were to go at the end of March,’ he said.
‘But, look, Kerry was a good replacement in the end and at least we got to finish the show.’
‘I said to the lads one day, “I’d love to go to Everest with you” and that’s something I still have very much in mind. It could be that we do another charity run,’ he said.
At the moment, Fitzgerald is also busy trying to motivate his Wexford team to stay focused on the new season, whenever that will be.
‘It would be good if they could even get onto a pitch but that’s not allowed.
‘So they’re just going for solo runs and bringing weights home.’
Fitzgerald himself has another big challenge coming up this year. As restaurants and pubs go to the wall all over the country, he is due to open one this summer.
Davy’s Bar and Restaurant at Lahinch will cater to what he’s praying will be a huge staycation summer in Ireland.
‘You’ve always got to stay hopeful,’ he said.
‘Honestly, some of the best fun I’ve ever had’
‘It was a terrible blow – we were to go in March’
Davy’s Toughest Team airs tomorrow at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and Ireland’s Fittest Family airs tonight at 6.30pm on RTÉ One.