“When I’m in ‘Man vs. Wild’ mode, it’s not pleasure. Every sensor is firing and I’m on reserve power all the time and I’m digging deep – and that’s the magic of it as well, and that’s raw and it’s great.”

All worthwhile journeys have big obstacles. It’s the way of the world. The rewards go to those who can push through those trying moments and still manage to keep a smile on their face.

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 look back and understand the world a bit better and know how competitive it is .

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

As a young boy, scouting gave me a confidence and camaraderie that is hard to find in modern life.

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.

Survival can be summed up in three words – never give up. That’s the heart of it really. Just keep trying.

I love making healthy lean foods delicious – that’s an art!

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

Sometimes it’s hard for us to believe, really believe, that God cares and wants good things for us and doesn’t just want us to go off and give everything up and become missionaries in Burundi.

Life’s full of lots of dream-stealers always telling you you need to do something more sensible. I think it doesn’t matter what your dream is, just fight the dream-stealers and hold onto it.

Our dreams are just wishes, if we never follow them through with action. And in life, you have got to be able to light your own fire.

I’m terrified of walking into a room full of people. Sitting down at a dinner table with 15 strangers brings me out in a sweat.

People ask me, “How do I succeed?” Whatever it is they do, I say, “Go and find 20 ways of messing it up. By 21, you’ll be getting there.” Life is an adventure, go back with cuts, scars and bruises.

Many people find it hard to understand what it is about a mountain that draws men and women to risk their lives on her freezing, icy faces – all for a chance at that single, solitary moment on the top.

I was christened Edward. My sister gave me the name Bear when I was a week old and it has stuck.