The rules of survival never change, whether you're in a desert or in an arena.

I hang out all the time with kids and young scouts and I never meet kids who don't want adventure.

For me, my training is a key part of my work as so often my life has depended on being able to move fast and haul myself up and out of something fast!

The special forces gave me the self-confidence to do some extraordinary things in my life. Climbing Everest then cemented my belief in myself.

I always wanted to be Robin Hood or John the Baptist when I was growing up.

The hardest thing about my job isn't the snake bites or the crocodiles, it's being away from my children. I have a really religious satellite phone call every day back to the boys, wherever we are, whatever time zone, to say goodnight.

A friend once asked me what qualities were needed for SAS. I would say to be self-motivated and resilient; to be calm, yet have the ability to smile when it is grim; to be unflappable, be able to react fast and to have an ‘improvise, adapt and overcome’ mentality.