Ben Fogle
Encyclopedia
Ben Fogle is an English television presenter, adventurer and writer
.
(who appeared alongside Michael Caine in Alfie and Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence) and broadcasting veterinary surgeon
Bruce Fogle
. He has two sisters: Emily Fogle and Tamara Fogle.
in Hampstead
in London, and Bryanston School
in Blandford Forum in Dorset
, followed by the University of Portsmouth
and the University of Costa Rica
. Fogle became a Midshipman in the Royal Naval Reserve, serving as an officer on HMS Blazer.
magazine in London before leaving to appear in reality show Castaway 2000
.
reality show Castaway 2000
, which followed a group of thirty-six people marooned on the Scottish
island of Taransay
for a year starting 1 January 2000. The social experiment aimed to create a fully self-sufficient community within a year.
The series attracted an audience of nine million.
Fogle has since become a regular television presenter for the BBC, hosting Crufts
, One Man and His Dog
, Countryfile
, Country Tracks, Extreme Dreams With Ben Fogle
, Animal Park
, Wild on the West Coast and Wild in Africa' and "Ben Fogle's Escape in Time". He made a film about the facial deforming disease Noma for a BBC 2 documentary "Make Me A New Face" which followed the work of the charity Facing Africa and Great Ormond Street Hospital. He has made films about naval History and the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) for the History Channel and followed Princes William and Harry on their first joint Royal Tour in Botswana and made an exclusive documentary called "Prince William's Africa". He marked the centenary of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole with "The Secrets of Scott's Hut". He is popular on the motivational and corporate speaking circuit. His new series "Swimming with Crocodiles" will be on BBC2 and "Storm City" in 3D in Sky One and National Geographic. Ben has recently become a special correspondent for NBC News in the United States.
Countryfile Fogle appeared on the rural affairs programme alongside John Craven from 2001 until 2008, during which time he reported on a number of the UK's rural pastimes, including coracle
racing, the worm charming
championships, the lawn mower racing
championship, world stinging nettle
eating competition in Dorset
, oyster
eating championships in Northern Ireland
, World Conker Championships
in Northamptonshire
, the alternative Scottish games, world tin bath racing on the Isle of Man
, bog snorkelling
and the Man versus Horse race in Wales
, the Tough Guy Competition
, cheese rolling
in Gloucestershire, morris dancing, Tar Barrels in Devon
, Up Helly Aa in Shetland, the Furry Dance
in Cornwall
and the British Open Crabbing Championships in Walberswick
, Suffolk
, and the World Coal Carrying Championships in Gawthorpe, West Yorkshire.
in 2006 and 2007 in which he selected five members of the public to go on expeditions of a lifetime. Destinations included expeditions to the Kaiteur Falls in Guyana, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Baker in Uganda, Mount Roraima in Venezuela, the Black Cat trail in Papua New Guinea, the Inca ruins in Peru, the Sahara Desert of Libya, Across the Arctic tundra of Svalbard in the Arctic Circle and most recently a journey across the Andes of South America from the Equator in Ecuador to the tropic of Capricorn in Chile. The series is currently showing in South Africa, Australia, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand and the United States.
in "Spirit of EDF Energy", partnered by Olympic
rower James Cracknell
. While competing in the 3000 mile race, the pair had their boat fully capsized by huge waves. They made landfall in Antigua
at 07:13 GMT on 19 January 2006, a crossing time of 49 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes. After penalties, they were placed second in the pairs and fourth overall. The BBC series that followed the pair, Through Hell and High Water, won a RTS
award in 2007.
Fogle has also completed the six-day Marathon des Sables
for the World Wide Fund for Nature
across 160 miles (257.5 km) of the Sahara Desert and the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya
for the TUSK
Trust, with Longleat Safari Park
keeper Ryan Hockley. Fogle has completed the Bupa great North Run in 1 hour 33 minutes, the London Marathon and the Royal Parks Half marathon. He beat Eastenders actor Sid Owen
in a three-round charity boxing match for BBC Sport Relief under the training of Frank Bruno
, and he recently re-ran the Safaricom marathon in Kenya with the injured Battleback Soldiers.
In October 2009, Ben and James Cracknell cycled a rickshaw 423 miles from Edinburgh to London non stop. They took 60 hours to reach the capital, raising money for SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association). The event was filmed for ITV's Pride of Britain Awards.
Fogle and Cracknell will be embarking on the infamous Tour Divide race in the Autumn, a 3000-mile mountain-bike race across the Rocky mountains, from Banff in Canada to the border of Mexico. The world record is held by American Matthew Lee and stands at 17 days. The race was put on hold after Cracknell received life threatening-injuries after being knocked from his bicycle while training.
Ben is currently filming a new series A Year of Adventures with lonely Planet and BBC Worldwide in which Ben travels the world in the pursuit of the ultimate adventure, from solo skydiving in Australia to flying in a cold war fighter jet in the Czech Republic. During the series he swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco and dived between the tectonic plates of North America and Europe in Iceland
once again, together with Ed Coats, a Bristol-based doctor, as Team QinetiQ to take part in the inaugural South Pole Race.
The team took 18 days, 5 hours and 10 minutes to complete the 770 kilometres (478.5 mi) race, coming second overall, over 20 hours behind the Norwegian Team, who commended them on making it "a fantastic race".
Ben suffered hypothermia and frostbite to his nose and the team experienced temperatures as low as -40 C.
The race was filmed by the BBC for the series On Thin Ice
and was aired in Summer 2009. Macmillan published an account of their journey, Race to The Pole, which became a top-10 bestseller in the UK.
in which he travels to Saint Helena
, Ascension Island
, the Falkland Islands
, the British Indian Ocean Territories and Tristan da Cunha
. He also tried to visit Pitcairn Island, but when the inhabitants learned that he was a journalist they refused to let him land. Ben claims that they suspected that he was in fact a spy, and after some hours of interrogation he was refused permission to visit and sent away from the island. He was also accused of attempting to smuggle a breadfruit
on to the island The book was short-listed for the W H Smith
's people's award for Best Travel Book.
He has also written Offshore
published by Penguin
in 2006 in which he travelled around Britain in search of an island of his own. He visited the Kingdom of Sealand and attempted to invade Rockall
in the North Atlantic. In 2006 he published the hit Crossing, published by Atlantic books and co-written with Cracknell followed their Transatlantic rowing bid. In 2009, The Race to the Pole was published by Macmillan and spent ten weeks in the bestseller list.
Fogle writes a weekly Country Diary for the Sunday Telegraph and is a regular columnist for The Daily Telegraph
and travel writer for The Independent
and has contributed to the Evening Standard
, New York Times, The Sunday Times
and Glamour
magazine. He has interviewed Gordon Brown and Prince William for the Mail on Sunday's LIVE magazine. He is guest director of Cheltenham Literary Festival and a regular at Hay-on-Wye.
Transworld published his first travel memoir "The Accidental Adventurer" in 2011 and his second will be published in 2012
, Inca. On 10 December 2009 Ben and Marina's first child, Ludo Fogle was born, weighing 7 lb (3.2 kg). Ben announced the birth of their second child on twitter, a baby girl named Iona Fogle, born on 26 May 2011 weighing in at 7 lb (3.175147 kg).
While filming the latest series of Extreme Dreams in Peru
, Fogle caught leishmaniasis
, which left him bedridden for three weeks on his return home. He was treated at London's Hospital for Tropical Diseases
. Fogle went on to make a documentary, 'Make me a New Face", about children suffering from flesh eating bacteria called Noma
in Ethiopia. The documentary was broadcast on BBC2.
Fogle is the President of the Campaign for National Parks, in which role he backs the Youth Hostels Association and National Parks Mosaic campaign to open up England's national parks to ethnic minorities. Fogle is also: an ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Tusk; a supporter of the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
; and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
. He is also a patron for the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, the Prince's Trust, the Royal Parks Foundation and ShelterBox
. He is a patron, alongside the historian Philippa Gregory, of the UK Chagos Supporters Association fighting for the islanders' rights to return to the British Indian Ocean Territories
Fogle was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters
by the University of Portsmouth
in 2007.
On the 13 August 2010 on the TV programme "Would I Lie To You?", Fogle admitted (and showed) that he had a tattoo of a nautical star on his right shoulder which he claimed to have acquired at the end of a drunken evening in a pub with the previously unknown tattooist. Fogle and his wife were invited to the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. His waxwork was recently unveiled at Madame Tussauds. He has had an acting cameo on Hotel Babylon.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Early life
Fogle is the son of actress Julia FosterJulia Foster
Julia Foster is a British actress.Foster's credits include the films The Bargee with Harry H. Corbett, Alfie with Michael Caine, Half a Sixpence with Tommy Steele, and Percy with Hywel Bennett...
(who appeared alongside Michael Caine in Alfie and Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence) and broadcasting veterinary surgeon
Veterinary surgeon
Veterinary surgeon is a term used to describe:*The full title of a vet, who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals, in the United Kingdom and several Commonwealth countries**See also Veterinary medicine in the United Kingdom...
Bruce Fogle
Bruce Fogle
Bruce Fogle is a veterinarian and prolific author. Canadian by birth, he has lived and worked in London for many years....
. He has two sisters: Emily Fogle and Tamara Fogle.
Education
Fogle was educated at two independent schools: The Hall SchoolHall School (Hampstead)
The Hall School is an independent boys' preparatory school in Belsize Park, Hampstead, London, currently teaching boys from the age of four to thirteen.-Description:The school is known for high academic standards...
in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
in London, and Bryanston School
Bryanston School
Bryanston School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Blandford, north Dorset, England, near the village of Bryanston. It was founded in 1928...
in Blandford Forum in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, followed by the University of Portsmouth
University of Portsmouth
The University of Portsmouth is a university in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The University was ranked 60th out of 122 in The Sunday Times University Guide...
and the University of Costa Rica
University of Costa Rica
The University of Costa Rica is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro, in the province of San José. It is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious institution of higher learning in...
. Fogle became a Midshipman in the Royal Naval Reserve, serving as an officer on HMS Blazer.
Early career
Fogle worked on the Picture Desk of TatlerTatler
Tatler has been the name of several British journals and magazines, each of which has viewed itself as the successor of the original literary and society journal founded by Richard Steele in 1709. The current incarnation, founded in 1901, is a glossy magazine published by Condé Nast Publications...
magazine in London before leaving to appear in reality show Castaway 2000
Castaway 2000
Castaway 2000 was a reality TV programme commissioned by the BBC in 2000.-The Concept:Castaway 2000 is a successful British television show that, because it was aired in the same year that Survivor first aired in the United States and Big Brother first aired in Great Britain, is often regarded as a...
.
Castaway
Fogle first came to public notice by participating in the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reality show Castaway 2000
Castaway 2000
Castaway 2000 was a reality TV programme commissioned by the BBC in 2000.-The Concept:Castaway 2000 is a successful British television show that, because it was aired in the same year that Survivor first aired in the United States and Big Brother first aired in Great Britain, is often regarded as a...
, which followed a group of thirty-six people marooned on the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
island of Taransay
Taransay
Taransay is an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It is famous for being the host of the British television series Castaway 2000. Uninhabited since 1974, except for holidaymakers, Taransay is the largest island in Scotland that lacks a permanent population...
for a year starting 1 January 2000. The social experiment aimed to create a fully self-sufficient community within a year.
The series attracted an audience of nine million.
Presenting
Crufts
Crufts is an annual international Championship conformation show for dogs organised and hosted by the Kennel Club, currently held every March at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England. It is the largest annual dog show in the world, as declared by Guinness World Records, and lasts...
, One Man and His Dog
One Man and His Dog
One Man and His Dog is a television series in the United Kingdom featuring sheepdog trials, presented by Phil Drabble with commentary by Eric Halsall, and later by Ray Ollerenshaw, Robin Page, and Gus Dermody. At its peak, in the early 1980s, it attracted audiences in excess of eight million...
, Countryfile
Countryfile
Countryfile is a British magazine-style television programme produced by BBC Birmingham, first aired on 24th July 1988, which reports on rural and environmental issues within the United Kingdom. For its first 20 years it was fronted by broadcaster John Craven, until he stepped back from the role of...
, Country Tracks, Extreme Dreams With Ben Fogle
Extreme Dreams With Ben Fogle
Extreme Dreams is a reality TV progamme made by the independent British production company Ricochet and hosted by Ben Fogle...
, Animal Park
Animal Park
Animal Park was a television documentary about the life of keepers and animals at Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, England, aired over 9 series on the BBC from 2000 until 2009. It also covered the daily life of workers in Longleat House, the estate and the gardens.-Main series:Animal Park was...
, Wild on the West Coast and Wild in Africa' and "Ben Fogle's Escape in Time". He made a film about the facial deforming disease Noma for a BBC 2 documentary "Make Me A New Face" which followed the work of the charity Facing Africa and Great Ormond Street Hospital. He has made films about naval History and the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) for the History Channel and followed Princes William and Harry on their first joint Royal Tour in Botswana and made an exclusive documentary called "Prince William's Africa". He marked the centenary of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole with "The Secrets of Scott's Hut". He is popular on the motivational and corporate speaking circuit. His new series "Swimming with Crocodiles" will be on BBC2 and "Storm City" in 3D in Sky One and National Geographic. Ben has recently become a special correspondent for NBC News in the United States.
Countryfile Fogle appeared on the rural affairs programme alongside John Craven from 2001 until 2008, during which time he reported on a number of the UK's rural pastimes, including coracle
Coracle
The coracle is a small, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales but also in parts of Western and South Western England, Ireland , and Scotland ; the word is also used of similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq and Tibet...
racing, the worm charming
Worm charming
Worm charming, worm grunting, and worm fiddling are methods of attracting earthworms from the ground. The activity is usually performed to collect bait for fishing but can also take the form of a competitive sport...
championships, the lawn mower racing
Lawn mower racing
Lawnmower racing is a form of motorsport in which competitors race modified lawnmowers, usually of the ride-on or self-propelled variety. The original mower engines are retained, but blades are removed for safety...
championship, world stinging nettle
Stinging nettle
Stinging nettle or common nettle, Urtica dioica, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant, native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best-known member of the nettle genus Urtica...
eating competition in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
eating championships in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, World Conker Championships
World Conker Championships
The World Conker Championships are held annually on the second Sunday in October in the village of Ashton near Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. Since 1965, conker players from around the world have gathered on the village green to compete for the world title. The male champion is crowned King...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, the alternative Scottish games, world tin bath racing on the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
, bog snorkelling
Bog snorkelling
Bog snorkelling is a sporting event that consists of competitors completing two consecutive lengths of a water filled trench cut through a peat bog, in the shortest time possible. Competitors must wear snorkels and flippers, and complete the course without using conventional swimming strokes,...
and the Man versus Horse race in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the Tough Guy Competition
Tough Guy Competition
Tough Guy claims to be the world's most demanding one-day survival ordeal.First staged in 1986, the Tough Guy Challenge is held on a in Perton, Staffordshire, near Wolverhampton, England, and is organised by Billy Wilson...
, cheese rolling
Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake
The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper's Hill, near Gloucester in the Cotswolds region of England. It is traditionally by and for the people who live in the local village of Brockworth, but now people from all over the world take...
in Gloucestershire, morris dancing, Tar Barrels in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, Up Helly Aa in Shetland, the Furry Dance
Furry Dance
The Furry Dance, also known as The Flora , takes place in Helston, Cornwall, and is one of the oldest British customs still practised today...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and the British Open Crabbing Championships in Walberswick
Walberswick
Walberswick is a village on the Suffolk coast in England, across the River Blyth from Southwold. Coastal erosion and the shifting of the mouth of the River Blyth meant that the neighbouring town of Dunwich was lost as a port in the last years of the 13th century...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, and the World Coal Carrying Championships in Gawthorpe, West Yorkshire.
Extreme Dreams
He presented the BBC 2 series made by RicochetRicochet (TV Production Company)
Ricochet, part of the Shed Media Group, is an independent television production company that produces factual and entertainment programmes for broadcast by networks in both the UK and US.Ricochet joined the Shed Media Group in 2005.-Current Productions:...
in 2006 and 2007 in which he selected five members of the public to go on expeditions of a lifetime. Destinations included expeditions to the Kaiteur Falls in Guyana, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Baker in Uganda, Mount Roraima in Venezuela, the Black Cat trail in Papua New Guinea, the Inca ruins in Peru, the Sahara Desert of Libya, Across the Arctic tundra of Svalbard in the Arctic Circle and most recently a journey across the Andes of South America from the Equator in Ecuador to the tropic of Capricorn in Chile. The series is currently showing in South Africa, Australia, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand and the United States.
Sport
Fogle was the first to cross the line in the pairs division of the 2005–2006 Atlantic Rowing RaceAtlantic Rowing Race
The Atlantic Rowing Race is a challenging ocean rowing race from the Canary Islands to the West Indies, a distance of approximately 2,550 nm . The race was founded by Sir Chay Blyth and first held in 1997 with subsequent races roughly every two years since. The early races were run by Challenge...
in "Spirit of EDF Energy", partnered by Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
rower James Cracknell
James Cracknell
James Cracknell, OBE is a British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist and adventurer. Cracknell is married to TV and radio presenter Beverley Turner; they have three children. In the New Year Honours List, 2004, he was appointed OBE for services to sport...
. While competing in the 3000 mile race, the pair had their boat fully capsized by huge waves. They made landfall in Antigua
Antigua
Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...
at 07:13 GMT on 19 January 2006, a crossing time of 49 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes. After penalties, they were placed second in the pairs and fourth overall. The BBC series that followed the pair, Through Hell and High Water, won a RTS
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
award in 2007.
Fogle has also completed the six-day Marathon des Sables
Marathon des Sables
The Marathon des Sables is a six-day, ultramarathon, which is the equivalent of six regular marathons. The longest single stage is long....
for the World Wide Fund for Nature
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
across 160 miles (257.5 km) of the Sahara Desert and the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
for the TUSK
Tusk
Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth, usually but not always in pairs, that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canines, as with warthogs, wild boar, and walruses, or, in the case of elephants and narwhals, elongated incisors...
Trust, with Longleat Safari Park
Longleat Safari Park
Longleat Safari Park, in Wiltshire, England was opened in 1966 and was the first drive-through safari park outside Africa. The park is situated in the grounds of Longleat House, an English stately home that attracts tourists and is the current home of the 7th Marquess of Bath...
keeper Ryan Hockley. Fogle has completed the Bupa great North Run in 1 hour 33 minutes, the London Marathon and the Royal Parks Half marathon. He beat Eastenders actor Sid Owen
Sid Owen
Sid Owen is an English actor, television presenter and former singer, most famous for playing the role of Ricky Butcher in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, which he appeared in from 1988 until 2000, 2002 until 2004 and then again from March 2008.-Career:Prior to his role in EastEnders he had a...
in a three-round charity boxing match for BBC Sport Relief under the training of Frank Bruno
Frank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...
, and he recently re-ran the Safaricom marathon in Kenya with the injured Battleback Soldiers.
In October 2009, Ben and James Cracknell cycled a rickshaw 423 miles from Edinburgh to London non stop. They took 60 hours to reach the capital, raising money for SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association). The event was filmed for ITV's Pride of Britain Awards.
Fogle and Cracknell will be embarking on the infamous Tour Divide race in the Autumn, a 3000-mile mountain-bike race across the Rocky mountains, from Banff in Canada to the border of Mexico. The world record is held by American Matthew Lee and stands at 17 days. The race was put on hold after Cracknell received life threatening-injuries after being knocked from his bicycle while training.
Ben is currently filming a new series A Year of Adventures with lonely Planet and BBC Worldwide in which Ben travels the world in the pursuit of the ultimate adventure, from solo skydiving in Australia to flying in a cold war fighter jet in the Czech Republic. During the series he swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco and dived between the tectonic plates of North America and Europe in Iceland
South Pole
Fogle teamed up with James CracknellJames Cracknell
James Cracknell, OBE is a British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist and adventurer. Cracknell is married to TV and radio presenter Beverley Turner; they have three children. In the New Year Honours List, 2004, he was appointed OBE for services to sport...
once again, together with Ed Coats, a Bristol-based doctor, as Team QinetiQ to take part in the inaugural South Pole Race.
The team took 18 days, 5 hours and 10 minutes to complete the 770 kilometres (478.5 mi) race, coming second overall, over 20 hours behind the Norwegian Team, who commended them on making it "a fantastic race".
Ben suffered hypothermia and frostbite to his nose and the team experienced temperatures as low as -40 C.
The race was filmed by the BBC for the series On Thin Ice
On Thin Ice (TV Series)
On Thin Ice is a documentary following a team of three consisting of Ben Fogle, James Cracknell, and Ed Coats in their epic race across Antarctica to the South Pole. The series covers the whole experience, beginning with training efforts in Switzerland and vigorous exercises elsewhere. The team...
and was aired in Summer 2009. Macmillan published an account of their journey, Race to The Pole, which became a top-10 bestseller in the UK.
Writing
Fogle has written five books; The Teatime Islands in search of the remaining islands in the British EmpireBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
in which he travels to Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
, Ascension Island
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...
, the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, the British Indian Ocean Territories and Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha is a remote volcanic group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying from the nearest land, South Africa, and from South America...
. He also tried to visit Pitcairn Island, but when the inhabitants learned that he was a journalist they refused to let him land. Ben claims that they suspected that he was in fact a spy, and after some hours of interrogation he was refused permission to visit and sent away from the island. He was also accused of attempting to smuggle a breadfruit
Breadfruit
Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...
on to the island The book was short-listed for the W H Smith
W H Smith
WHSmith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...
's people's award for Best Travel Book.
He has also written Offshore
Offshore (novel)
Offshore is a novel by Penelope Fitzgerald. It won the Booker Prize for that year. It recalls her time spent on boats in Battersea by the Thames. The novel centralizes around the idea of liminality, expanding upon it to include the notion: 'liminal people,' people who do not belong to the land or...
published by Penguin
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
in 2006 in which he travelled around Britain in search of an island of his own. He visited the Kingdom of Sealand and attempted to invade Rockall
Rockall
Rockall is an extremely small, uninhabited, remote rocky islet in the North Atlantic Ocean. It gives its name to one of the sea areas named in the shipping forecast provided by the British Meteorological Office....
in the North Atlantic. In 2006 he published the hit Crossing, published by Atlantic books and co-written with Cracknell followed their Transatlantic rowing bid. In 2009, The Race to the Pole was published by Macmillan and spent ten weeks in the bestseller list.
Fogle writes a weekly Country Diary for the Sunday Telegraph and is a regular columnist for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and travel writer for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
and has contributed to the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
, New York Times, The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
and Glamour
Glamour (magazine)
Glamour is a women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. Founded in 1939 in the United States, it was originally called Glamour of Hollywood....
magazine. He has interviewed Gordon Brown and Prince William for the Mail on Sunday's LIVE magazine. He is guest director of Cheltenham Literary Festival and a regular at Hay-on-Wye.
Transworld published his first travel memoir "The Accidental Adventurer" in 2011 and his second will be published in 2012
Personal life
In 2006 he married Marina Hunt, co-founder of Kasimira party organisers whom he met while walking his black Labrador RetrieverLabrador Retriever
The Labrador Retriever is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. A breed characteristic is webbed paws for swimming, useful for the breed's original purpose of retrieving fishing nets. The Labrador is the most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Canada, the United...
, Inca. On 10 December 2009 Ben and Marina's first child, Ludo Fogle was born, weighing 7 lb (3.2 kg). Ben announced the birth of their second child on twitter, a baby girl named Iona Fogle, born on 26 May 2011 weighing in at 7 lb (3.175147 kg).
While filming the latest series of Extreme Dreams in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Fogle caught leishmaniasis
Leishmaniasis
Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites that belong to the genus Leishmania and is transmitted by the bite of certain species of sand fly...
, which left him bedridden for three weeks on his return home. He was treated at London's Hospital for Tropical Diseases
Hospital for Tropical Diseases
The Hospital for Tropical Diseases is a specialist tropical disease hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine...
. Fogle went on to make a documentary, 'Make me a New Face", about children suffering from flesh eating bacteria called Noma
Noma (disease)
Noma also known as cancrum oris or gangrenous stomatitis, is a gangrenous disease leading to tissue destruction of the face, especially the mouth and cheek.-Causes:...
in Ethiopia. The documentary was broadcast on BBC2.
Fogle is the President of the Campaign for National Parks, in which role he backs the Youth Hostels Association and National Parks Mosaic campaign to open up England's national parks to ethnic minorities. Fogle is also: an ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Tusk; a supporter of the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People is a British charitable organisation founded in 1982.-External links and references:*...
; and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
. He is also a patron for the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, the Prince's Trust, the Royal Parks Foundation and ShelterBox
ShelterBox
ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that provides portable refuge to disaster victims around the world. Since 2001, it has worked in more than 45 countries, supplying aid to more than 600,000 people, and delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by...
. He is a patron, alongside the historian Philippa Gregory, of the UK Chagos Supporters Association fighting for the islanders' rights to return to the British Indian Ocean Territories
Fogle was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...
by the University of Portsmouth
University of Portsmouth
The University of Portsmouth is a university in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The University was ranked 60th out of 122 in The Sunday Times University Guide...
in 2007.
On the 13 August 2010 on the TV programme "Would I Lie To You?", Fogle admitted (and showed) that he had a tattoo of a nautical star on his right shoulder which he claimed to have acquired at the end of a drunken evening in a pub with the previously unknown tattooist. Fogle and his wife were invited to the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. His waxwork was recently unveiled at Madame Tussauds. He has had an acting cameo on Hotel Babylon.
Television presenting credits
- CountryfileCountryfileCountryfile is a British magazine-style television programme produced by BBC Birmingham, first aired on 24th July 1988, which reports on rural and environmental issues within the United Kingdom. For its first 20 years it was fronted by broadcaster John Craven, until he stepped back from the role of...
(2001–2009) - Animal ParkAnimal ParkAnimal Park was a television documentary about the life of keepers and animals at Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, England, aired over 9 series on the BBC from 2000 until 2009. It also covered the daily life of workers in Longleat House, the estate and the gardens.-Main series:Animal Park was...
(2002–2009) - Big Screen Britain (2003)
- Death by Pets (2003)
- Sport Relief 2004 (2004)
- The Sand Marathon (2004)
- Animal Park: Wild in Africa (2005 & 2006)
- Through Hell and High WaterThrough Hell and High WaterThrough Hell and High Water was a BBC television programme produced by Twofour that aired in the United Kingdom on 13–17 February 2006. Five half-hour morning programmes on BBC1 followed James Cracknell and Ben Fogle in their attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean in "Spirit of EDF Energy", a...
(2006) - CruftsCruftsCrufts is an annual international Championship conformation show for dogs organised and hosted by the Kennel Club, currently held every March at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England. It is the largest annual dog show in the world, as declared by Guinness World Records, and lasts...
(2006, 2007 & 2008) - Cash in the AtticCash in the AtticCash in the Attic, also Cash in the Celebrity Attic, is a UK television show on the BBC. The show, made by , premièred in 2002 and has run for sixteen series; as of February 2010, the seventeenth series is currently in production, along with the fifth celebrity series...
- One Man and His DogOne Man and His DogOne Man and His Dog is a television series in the United Kingdom featuring sheepdog trials, presented by Phil Drabble with commentary by Eric Halsall, and later by Ray Ollerenshaw, Robin Page, and Gus Dermody. At its peak, in the early 1980s, it attracted audiences in excess of eight million...
- Animal Park: Wild on the West Coast (2007)
- Extreme Dreams With Ben FogleExtreme Dreams With Ben FogleExtreme Dreams is a reality TV progamme made by the independent British production company Ricochet and hosted by Ben Fogle...
(2007–2009) - On Thin IceOn Thin Ice (TV Series)On Thin Ice is a documentary following a team of three consisting of Ben Fogle, James Cracknell, and Ed Coats in their epic race across Antarctica to the South Pole. The series covers the whole experience, beginning with training efforts in Switzerland and vigorous exercises elsewhere. The team...
(2009) - Ben Fogle's Escape In Time (2009-)
- Country Tracks (2009-)
- Make Me A New Face: Hope For Africa's Hidden Children (2010)
- "Prince William's Africa" (2010)
- The Secrets of Scott's Hut (2011)
- The World's Most Dangerous Roads http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0153h6s#synopsis (2011)
External links
- Official website
- Room54 Ltd Ben Fogle Biography Ben Fogle Corporate Speaking
- Atlantic Rowing Race
- Ben Fogle Outdoor Sock Range