I joined the Army at 19 as a soldier and spent about four and a half years with them. Then I broke my back in a freefall parachuting accident and spent a year in rehabilitation back in the U.K.

I think viewers quite like it when I'm suffering or eating or drinking something horrible or really up against it in some quicksand or whatever.

That feeling when you're so cold you'd give anything to be warm - I've had it before, literally huddled around a candle flame on an ice sheet.

Dreams, though, are cheap, and the real task comes when you start putting in place the steps needed to make those dreams a reality.

Life doesn't reward the naturally clever or strong but those who can learn to fight and work hard and never quit.

And if you give your heart to a goal, it will repay you. It's the law of the universe.

The extremes of jungles, mountains, and deserts are inherently dangerous places.