Ben Fogle

"I love travelling and I am very privileged and honoured to be nominated by likeminded travellers. As a child I was inspired and motivated by the travel tales of others and I'm hugely flattered to think that I might now be enthusing others."

It would be a groundbreaking media project that would act as the catalyst to Ben Fogle’s career as a television presenter, international adventurer and writer.

Selected from 4,000 volunteers to be marooned on Taransay in the Outer Hebrides as part of the BBC’s year-long reality show Castaway 2000, the adventure put Ben firmly in the spotlight and proved a springboard to many well-documented adventures and journeys.

A regular face on the BBC, Ben’s work in front of the camera has seen him embark on countless voyages and epic adventures. Alongside Olympic rower James Cracknell, Ben has participated in a series of gruelling challenges that have made compelling viewing.

To date, the two have finished third in a 50-day rowing race across the Atlantic, trekked 770 kilometres and battled hypothermia and frostbite on a race to the South Pole, and cycled a rickshaw 450 miles non-stop from Edinburgh to London for charity. They next plan to walk across Australia at the height of summer in 2010.

Last year was indicative of Ben’s non-stop media career. Over the course of 2009, Ben travelled to Ethiopia to film a documentary about the Noma disease, while the third series of BBC2’s Extreme Dreams With Ben Fogle saw him select people to go on life-changing expeditions in challenging environments around the world. On Thin Ice documented the race to the South Pole, while the book detailing the adventure became a top 10 UK bestseller.

In addition to his media career, Ben is an ocean yachtmaster with a sailing world record for the Portsmouth-Cork route. He also completed the six-day Marathon des Sables across 160 miles of the Sahara.