WORST of TIMES

WORST TIME OF CHILDHOOD?

I suffered homesickness for about a year when I went to board at Bryanston (a public school in Dorset). It was a very long time, but it was still the best decision to endure that homesickness because it toughened me for a life of being away. I’ve spent more time away than most people, and I still have little feelings of homesickness. But Bryanston was very tough. The only feelings I can compare it to is when you’re left broken-hearted by a loved one, when a girlfriend has dumped you. You’re left emotionally a bit broken. WORST PART OF SCHOOLDAYS?

All the big exams I had to do, my common entrance exams aged 13, my GCSEs, my AS levels, my A-levels, I failed most of them. Standout moments always revolve around exams, but that’s when I felt most hopeless and the greatest failure. WORST TIME OF YOUR LIFE?

Losing our son Willem at 33 weeks in 2014 was without doubt the worst. Marina and I decided to share our experience, so that it would help others come to terms with their own losses. But it’s not something I dwell on, feeling sorry for myself. Although it’s important to remember I’m a father of three children, not two, and although there are only two present in my life, I remember there were three. WORST HEALTH SCARE?

Given the prolific travel and time spent in extreme environments, I’ve got away very lightly. I’ve never had malaria, despite spending huge amounts of my life in malarial zones, and never had cholera. But I have had some unfortunate experiences, and leishmaniasis was one of them. It’s a flesh-eating disease that I picked up in late 2008 in Peru. It was pretty nasty. I was left bed-bound for months, out of work for many months. It’s a neglected disease, killing tens of thousands every year, but there’s no money in the research because not enough people who have money contract it. I had it twice. And it did leave me with a slight PTSD when it comes to jungles. I’ve only just returned to the jungle for the very first time; I just got back from three weeks in the Congo. I felt very nervous about it, but I’m glad I got back on the metaphorical jungle horse. WORST THING ABOUT BEING ON ‘CASTAWAY’?

There were definitely moments of darkness. It was hard being away from family for a whole year. There were a lot of different people with very strong ideas on the island, which I now embrace, being around people with different opinions to mine. That’s why I love filming with people who are extremes. I like the challenge of that. I’m quite liberal and tolerant because of my time on Taransay. You have to understand that people have different values, and you have to respect those. Afterwards was hard, coming back to London, having lost my anonymity. WORST MEAL?

When I had to eat baboon in Tanzania. I was making a show with the Hadzabe tribe, and they presented me with baboon, intact with a skull, and I had no idea what I should do, or whether it was appropriate or ethical. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to seem rude. I ended up having some and, as a vegetarian, it didn’t go down well. THE ABSOLUTE WORST

There is an assumption that if you are privileged – and I completely acknowledge I am very privileged – you are somehow immune to suffering or hardship or sorrow. And I hope that by speaking honestly about my own experiences, whether it is with dyslexia, with homesickness, with loss, that it humanises them for everyone.

Interview by Susan Gray

Ben Fogle is working with Ocado and The Beano to encourage families to reduce food waste, by turning leftovers into recipes