BEST of TIMES

Ben Fogle became a household name as one of the participants in reality television show Castaway 2000, where a group were marooned for a year on the remote Scottish island of Taransay. He has since rowed the Atlantic, climbed Everest and completed a race to the South Pole. He is the presenter on Channel 5’s New Lives in the Wild and has appeared on BBC’s Springwatch and Countryfile. He is married to Marina Hunt, and they live in Buckinghamshire with their two children Ludovic and Iona. BEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY?

My childhood memories revolve around being out in Canada, where I spent all of my summers with my late grandparents. My happiest memories were being out in the Canadian wilderness. It wasn’t deep wilderness, but it was a rural lake with a cottage my late grandfather Morris had built by hand. It wasn’t entirely off-grid, we had electricity, but everything was rudimentary. It was very basic. I loved the canoe my grandfather had made himself. It was a very hands-on experience. I absolutely loved it. WHAT WAS THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE?

In January 2006, the day that James Cracknell and I arrived in Antigua after rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. We pulled in at two in the morning, at the end of a very tough, emotional few months at sea, which I thought would never end. I didn’t think we’d cross the finish line. I didn’t think we’d survive. So it was the culmination of many emotions. I thought my family thought we were dead. So to arrive in the harbour and for all our family to be there – we didn’t know they’d all be there, as we had no communication. It was a mix of satisfaction and relief – I don’t think I’ve ever had all those emotions in one single experience. And I don’t think I’ll ever have the same feelings again. I hugged my family first, and my then girlfriend Marina. I proposed to her then, she was there with my parents and my sisters and my best friends. We weren’t in great shape. We were physically and mentally exhausted. And James was very sick. I was in better condition than he was. But we couldn’t walk or sit down properly for a couple of days. We’d lost a huge amount of weight. But the overriding memory was just one of complete relief. “Never again” was the overriding sentiment: I’ve been there, I’ve done that. I don’t need to do it again. But now of course that’s changed, and I’d love to do it again. But it’s taken 20 years. BEST EXPERIENCE WITH A PET?

Meeting my wife! It’s how my parents met, through their dogs. It’s a Fogle family tradition, that’s how we meet our partners. I met Marina walking in Hyde Park. She was walking her brown labrador Magi, sadly now passed, and I had my late black labrador Inca. I was having a leisurely walk, with a cup of coffee, and spotted her, but was far too shy to go up and chat at first. Eventually I did. We married less than a year later. The dogs didn’t come to our wedding, we got married in Portugal, but we had two little marzipan figurines made of the dogs that sat atop our wedding cake. BEST DECISION?

To go on the reality show Castaway.

In 1999 I was working for Tatler magazine. I saw the advert and wanted some adventure, so I applied for that show. No one could understand why I’d be giving up a good job and central London, and all my friends, for a year. It changed my life, it is where I became an environmentalist. I believe we should be very careful about not wasting anything. A lot of that was born through my experience on Taransay – nothing went to waste, we only had a finite amount of food. BEST ADVICE

I would like to be liked by everyone. But it was the late Terry Wogan who said that the more some people like you, the more other people will absolutely despise you. It was a very astute piece of advice because it’s true. And it’s impossible to please all the people all of the time.