My kids couldn’t give a monkey’s that I’m on TV...
Presenter and sports commentator Mark Durden-Smith is no stranger to show business. As the son of Judith Chalmers and commentator Neil Durden-Smith, he was destined for a career in T V and is now back hosting a brand new game show Freeze Out. The dad-of-t
Is Freeze Out for all ages? ABSOLUTELY because there are just so many different elements to it, so it’s definitely a show for all the family.
The general knowledge will keep the quiz masters hopefully very happy and I’m terrible at general knowledge, but luckily I don’t have to know the answers because I’ve got them written down in this one. But absolutely, I think it’s for everybody. How would you sum up the show? THERE are five contestants who stand around a six-metre wide ice table onto which we project state-of-the-art graphics to create game boards.
The contestants answer general knowledge questions to win sliders to glide on the table, in games that are a bit like playing air hockey or curling.
In some games you’re blasting other people’s sliders out the way to win and in others you’re using a bit of finesse to land your sliders onto small targets.
One by one, the players get knocked out leaving one Freeze Out player who has a chance to go for the £10,000 jackpot prize. Do your children watch you on TV? THEY couldn’t give a monkey’s! I don’t think they even know that I’m on the TV. I’ve got twin boys who are nine and a girl who’s eight.
I do a lot of sports presenting at the moment so obviously I try to make them watch me on a Sunday night, but they refuse, they couldn’t be less interested, it’s very upsetting. Did you watch your parents when you were growing up? WE WERE much more respectful children, so we definitely sat down on a Monday night and watched Wish You Were Here when my mum was on, and we definitely sat down when my dad was commentating.
I dare to say this, but in those days there were only about four channels, so I used to watch Six Million Dollar Man on the other side if I could, but if my mum was around it was always Wish You Were Here. Have you ever starred in Wish You Were Here? I DID, you know I think I’ve been in three episodes, bearing in mind she did it for 30 years. In all of them, I’m eating something.
If they needed to film a little fat child eating something on a beach, I was the man. Have you tried to shake off the Judith Chalmers tag? NO, I’M very proud of my mum and dad actually, they’re both broadcasters, so I’ve not tried to shake it off.
You do your own thing, get your jobs on your own merit and that’s what you aim to do.
They’re great my parents, they’re brilliant, and I’m certainly not trying to shake them off.
I’m very proud of what they’ve managed to achieve in their lives and they’re still doing great stuff. Did you ever want to step away from a career in show business? I THOUGHT I would be a barrister and then I realised I was probably a little bit too thick.
I was told to read bundles and bundles of papers and that’s what it was to be a barrister.
But actually I think I was slightly sold a dud there because a lot of barristers like performing and that’s what appealed to me, I also felt very keenly about justice. Then I did a bit of radio at university and that was that really. What do you enjoy doing away from the cameras? WELL I’m vaguely addicted to exercise, which is just as well because I eat quite a lot.
We’ve just moved to the country, so exercise might be shovelling some grass heaps or lifting up a log and I’ve just made my own self-styled gym in this old dairy barn we’ve got.
We’re building a new house from scratch, so quite consumed by building at the moment.
We’re building from literally nothing and we’re hoping to finish at Christmas, although I’m off on holiday tomorrow with my giant surf board.
I want to be a surf dude like Keanu Reeves in Point Break.
Freeze Out begins on ITV on Monday at 5pm