“I love home cooking, and I’m not a great one for fast food.”

I didn’t want to do eight seasons of How To Build A Fire. The intention was to make something fun and dynamic and about self rescue, not about whittling.

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

Eating any of these things, goat testicles or what have you, isn’t going to be nice, but you get into that zone, you become focussed and you do what you need to do. It’s all about one thing: coming home in one piece.

Are you the sort of person who can turn around when you have nothing left, and find that little bit extra inside you to keep going, or do you sag and wilt with exhaustion? It is a mental game, and it is hard to tell how people will react until they are squeezed.

When I’m filming, survival requires movement. You need your energy, and you’ve got to eat the bad stuff, and survival food is rarely pretty, but you kind of do it. I get in that zone, and I eat the nasty stuff, but I’m not like that when I’m back home.

A man’s pride can be his downfall, and he needs to learn when to turn to others for support and guidance.

As for my diet, I try to eat lean, clean and healthy – nothing too surprising. And I avoid too much meat or dairy because they slow you down.

Weather can kill you so fast. The first priority of survival is getting protection from the extreme weather.

To get ready to climb Everest, I did a lot of hill running with a daypack on and a lot of underwater swimming. I would swim a couple of lengths underwater and then a couple above. It gets your body going with limited oxygen.

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

I come from a line of self-motivated, determined folk – not grand, not high society, but no-nonsense, family-minded go-getters.

It can be hard to explain. But I also relate to the quote that says, Iif you have to ask, you will never understand.

The line between life or death is determined by what we are willing to do.

Life has taught me to be very cautious of a man with a dream, especially a man who has teetered on the edge of life. It gives a fire and recklessness inside that is hard to quantify.

The greatest journeys all start with a single step.

My best life lessons and education didn’t come from a classroom – they’ve come from the wild. How you act in the big moments, the ones that challenge you, scare you, tempt you, and force you to make the right decisions, is what defines you.

Cook ingredients that you are used to cooking by other techniques, such as fish, chicken, or hamburgers. In other words be comfortable with the ingredients you are using.

Winning is very tangible, it’s very exciting, it’s very pleasing, but it’s momentary. If you can do things that last, that each generation can build upon, then that’s when you’re cooking.

Most sailing ships take what they call trainees, who pay to be part of the crew. The Picton Castle takes people who are absolutely raw recruits. But you can’t just ride along.

Alcohol may pick you up a little bit, but it lets you down in a hurry.

If we don’t watch out, the pleasure o be gained from the discriminating enjoyment of food will be lost. It may not be long before the art of fine cooking is viewed as the invention of a handful of snobs. . . .

Proust had his madeleines; I am devastated by the scent of yeast bread rising.

Grub first, then ethics.

Good manners: The noise you don’t make when you’re eating soup.