Ben Fogle

Benjamin Myer Fogle, FRGS (born 3 November 1973[3]) is an English broadcaster, writer and adventurer, best known for his presenting roles with British television channels Channel 5, BBC and ITV.

Ben Fogle FRGS
Fogle in Ecuador (2014)
Born	Benjamin Myer Fogle[1] (1973-11-03) 3 November 1973 Westminster, London, England
Alma mater	University of Portsmouth University of Costa Rica
Occupation	Television presenter and writer
Spouse(s)	Marina Fogle (m. 2006)[2]
Children	Ludo Fogle (b. 2009) Iona Fogle (b. 2011)[2]
Parent(s)	Julia Foster Bruce Fogle
Website	Official Website

Early life

Fogle is the son of English actress Julia Foster and Canadian veterinarian Bruce Fogle, based for over 40 years in London. He was educated at two independent schools: The Hall School, Hampstead in London, and Bryanston School in Blandford Forum, Dorset, followed by the University of Portsmouth and the University of Costa Rica.[4] Fogle became a Midshipman in the Royal Naval Reserve, serving as an URNU officer on HMS Blazer.[5]

Career

Television

Fogle first came to public notice when he participated in the BBC 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. This was a social experiment aimed at creating a fully self-sufficient community within a year.

Fogle is a television presenter who has worked for the BBC, ITV, Channel 5, Sky, Discovery and the National Geographic channels in the UK. He has hosted Crufts, One Man and His Dog, Countryfile, Country Tracks, Extreme Dreams with Ben Fogle, Animal Park, Wild on the West Coast, Wild in Africa, "Ben Fogle – African Migration" and Ben Fogle's Escape in Time. Fogle made a film about the facial deforming disease noma for a BBC Two documentary Make Me A New Face which followed the work of the charity Facing Africa and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Fogle has produced 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. Fogle is popular on the motivational and corporate speaking circuit. His new series, Swimming with Crocodiles will air on BBC Two, Storm City in 3D in Sky One and National Geographic. Fogle has become a special correspondent for NBC News in the United States.

Fogle appeared on the programme Countryfile with John Craven from 2001 to 2008, during which he reported on a number of UK rural pastimes. He rejoined the programme in 2014.

Since 2013, Fogle has presented two series of Harbour Lives, a documentary series on ITV. In 2014, Fogle joined the presenting team on ITV series Countrywise with Liz Bonnin and Paul Heiney, which covers aspects of the British coast and country.

In 2013, Fogle presented a new show for Channel 5 called Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild, that saw him follow the stories of people living in the wild and isolated from society.[6] Fogle also took over as the host of Animal Clinic on Channel 5, replacing Rolf Harris.

Sport

On 16 May 2018, Fogle summited Mount Everest, completing the climb over a six week period whilst accompanied by two local sherpa guides, as well as Kenton Cool, a 44-year-old Brit who has summited Everest 12 times. His trek also included former Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton, who unfortunately had to abandon her attempt early due to severe altitude sickness. A film Our Everest Challenge documented by CNN, aired in June 2018, to highlight environmental issues around mountains in his new role as UN patron of the wilderness. The whole project was made possible by Fogle's good friend, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, in memory of her father alongside raising awareness and money for The Red Cross [7][8]

Fogle and Cracknell before the start of the 2005 Atlantic Rowing Race

Fogle was the first to cross the line in the pairs division of the 2005–2006 Atlantic Rowing Race in "Spirit of EDF Energy", partnered by Olympic rower James Cracknell. While competing in the 3,000-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. In 2007, the BBC series that followed the pair, Through Hell and High Water, won a Royal Television Society award.

He has also completed the six-day Marathon des Sables for the World Wide Fund for Nature across 160 miles (260 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.

Fogle teamed up with Cracknell once again, together with Ed Coats, a Bristol-based doctor,[9] as Team QinetiQ to take part in the inaugural "Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race". Six teams set out to race across the Antarctic Plateau to commemorate the historic race of 1911 between Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott. Having led the race for much of the time,[10] the team took 18 days, 5 hours and 10 minutes to complete the 770-kilometre (480 mi) race, coming second overall, 20 hours[11][12] behind the Norwegian team, who commended them on making it "a fantastic race",[13][14] and over 2 days ahead of the next placed team.[15] Fogle suffered hypothermia and frostbite to his nose and the team experienced temperatures as low as −40 °C (−40 °F). The race was filmed by the BBC for the series On Thin Ice and was aired in Summer 2009. Five episodes of On Thin Ice were broadcast on BBC Two Sunday evenings[16] receiving a peak record of 3.7 million viewers. Macmillan published an account of their journey, Race to The Pole, which became a top-10 best-seller in the UK.

In October 2009, Fogle and 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 as part of The Pride of Britain Awards. Fogle and Cracknell planned to take part in the Tour Divide race in 2010, a 3,000-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 in America while training.

In 2011, Fogle filmed a series called A Year of Adventures with Lonely Planet and BBC Worldwide in which he travels the world in search of 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. In 2013, Fogle and Cracknell teamed up again for their third and final expedition across the Empty-quarter of Oman for a new BBC Two series.

Writing

Fogle has written ten books; The Teatime Islands in search of the remaining islands in the British Empire 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 by private yacht, but when the inhabitants learned that he was a journalist they refused to let him land. Fogle claims that they suspected that he was a spy, and after six hours of interrogation he was refused permission to visit and deported. He was also accused of attempting to smuggle a breadfruit on to the island.[17] The book was short-listed for the W H Smith's people's award for Best Travel Book.

He has also written Offshore (2006), published by Penguin Books, in which he travelled around Britain in search of an island of his own.[18] He visited the Kingdom of Sealand and attempted to invade Rockall in the North Atlantic. In 2006 he published The 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 best-seller list. His seventh book Labrador was released in 2015. In it, he explores the origin, characteristics and exploits of the breed.

In 2016, Land Rover: The Story of the Car that Conquered the World was published.[19] English: A Story of Marmite, Queuing and Weather, which was published in 2017, examines the English national character.[20] He published his tenth book, Up, in October 2018. Co-written with his wife, Marina, Up documents his planning, training and eventual summit of Mount Everest.

In 2019 Fogle launched a children's book series, co-written by best-selling children's author Steve Cole (author) and illustrated by Nikolas Ilic. Inspired by Fogle's real-life encounters with animals, the series follows the character of Mr Dog and his many sidekicks and friends.[21] Between March 2019 and January 2020, four Mr Dog books were published, with two more billed for late 2020.[22]

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, The 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 the Hay-on-Wye festival.

Activism

Fogle speaking at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London in 2018

Fogle is the UN Patron of the Wilderness, a role that sees him highlight the pressure and impact on the earth's wildest corners. His aim is to focus more attention on the conservation cause and inspire greater global action to ensure our actions do not damage the environment. [23]

He is the President of the Campaign for National Parks,.[24] 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. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.[25] He is also a patron for the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, the Prince's Trust, the Royal Parks Foundation and ShelterBox.

Alongside the historian Philippa Gregory, Fogle is a patron of the UK Chagos Supporters Association, fighting for the islanders' rights to return to the British Indian Ocean Territory. He has described "the story of the Chagos islanders' treatment at the hands of the UK government" as "one for which I am ashamed to be British [...] a story of deceit [... which has] shaken my very principles on conservation and democracy".[26]

In August 2014, Fogle was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.[27]

On 11 May 2020 Fogle announced that his Twitter account would henceforth be donated to a different charity on a rolling, weekly basis. [28] The first charity selected was WECare, a UK and Sri Lankan registered veterinary charity. The repurposing of Fogle's Twitter account followed an incident of widespread trolling of Fogle following his suggestion of a nationwide sing-along to mark the 94th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday 21 April 2020. [29]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Channel
2000–2001	Castaway 2000	Participant	BBC One
2001–2009, 2014–2015, 2017–2018	Countryfile	Co-presenter
2001–2009, 2016–2018	Animal Park	Co-presenter	BBC One/BBC Two
2002–2007	One Man and His Dog	Presenter	BBC Two
2003	Big Screen Britain	Presenter
2003	Death by Pets	Presenter
2004	The Sand Marathon	Presenter	BBC Two
2005–2006	Animal Park: Wild in Africa	Co-presenter
2006	Through Hell and High Water	Co-presenter	BBC One
2006, 2007–2008	Crufts	Co-presenter	BBC Two
	Cash in the Attic	Co-presenter	BBC One
2007	Animal Park: Wild on the West Coast	Co-presenter	BBC Two
2007–2009	Extreme Dreams with Ben Fogle	Presenter
2009	On Thin Ice	Co-presenter
2009–2010	Country Tracks	Co-presenter	BBC One
2010	Ben Fogle's Escape in Time	Presenter	BBC Two
2010	Make Me A New Face: Hope For Africa's Hidden Children	Presenter
2010	Prince William's Africa	Presenter	Sky1
2011	The Secrets of Scott's Hut	Presenter	BBC Two
2011	The World's Most Dangerous Roads[30]	Co-presenter
2012	Swimming with Crocodiles	Presenter
2012	Lonely Planet's Year of Adventures	Presenter	Travel Channel
2013—	Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild	Presenter	Channel 5
2013–2016	Countrywise	Co-presenter	ITV
2013	Ben Fogle's Animal Clinic	Presenter	Channel 5
2013–2014	Harbour Lives	Presenter	ITV
2014	Trawlermen's Lives	Presenter
2015	Ben Fogle: The Great African Migration	Presenter	Channel 5
2016	Coastal Walks with My Dog	Co-presenter	Channel 4
2016	Taskmaster	Cameo	Dave
2017, 2018	Walks with My Dog	Co-presenter	More4
2018	Britain's Favourite Dogs: Top 100	Co-presenter	ITV

Personal life

In 2006, Fogle married Marina Charlotte Elisabeth,[31] daughter of Dr Hon. Jonathan Hunt (son of John, Baron Hunt of Fawley) and Monika (daughter of Dr Herbert Kuhlmann, of Schloss Urstein, Salzburg, Austria).[32][33] Their first child, a boy named Ludovic Herbert Richard Fogle, was born in 2009.[34] Their second child, a girl named Iona, was born in 2011. In 2014, they had a stillborn son, Willem; Marina also nearly died after suffering an acute placental abruption at 33 weeks.[35][36]

While filming a series of Extreme Dreams in Peru in 2008, Fogle contracted leishmaniasis, which left him bedridden for three weeks on his return home. He was treated at London's Hospital for Tropical Diseases.[37] 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 BBC Two.

Fogle was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters by the University of Portsmouth in 2007.[38]

His waxwork was recently unveiled at Madame Tussauds. He was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2013. Fogle has had an acting cameo on the television programme Hotel Babylon.

On 20 February 2013, BBC Newsbeat published an article stating that he had claimed that his drink had been spiked at a pub in Gloucestershire. He described the effects as making him try to jump out of a window, and he subsequently spent a night in hospital.[39]

See also

• List of English writers
• List of television presenters
• Old Bryanstonians

References

1. "England & Wales Births 1837–2006".
2. Staff (n.d.). "Ben Fogle : Biography". benfogle.com. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
3. "findmypast.co.uk". Search.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
4. Vallely, Paul (14 January 2006). "Ben Fogle: Action man". The Independent. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
5. "Chat with Ben Fogle! | Mayhem! Magazine". Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
6. "Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild". Channel 5. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
7. Cohen, Claire (11 December 2017). "Exclusive: Victoria Pendleton and Ben Fogle on why they have joined forces to conquer Mount Everest" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
8. Association, Press (16 May 2018). "Adventurer Ben Fogle completes Mount Everest climb". the Guardian.
9. Bryony Gordon (8 October 2008). "James Cracknell's Race to the South Pole – James Cracknell Should Probably Be Spending This Christmas at Home with His Wife, Beverley Turner, Who Will Be Six Months Pregnant with Their Second Child by Then". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
10. "On Thin Ice". BBC. April–May 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
11. . Sparks.
12. "Team QinetiQ conquer the South Pole". QinetiQ Group plc. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
13. "South Pole Race website". 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 9 July 2009.
14. "Team Missing Link Wins the South Pole Race". The Epoch Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
15. "Cornishman completes gruelling endurance race to South Pole". This Is Cornwall. Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
16. "Network TV BBC Week 26: Unplaced". BBC Press Office. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
17. Would I Lie To You?, Series 4 Episode 4
18. Fogle, Ben (12 June 2008). "Joseph Haschka's review of Offshore: In Search of an Island of My Own". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
19. Land Rover: The Story of the Car that Conquered the World; Fogle, Ben; William Collins; 2016; 336 pages; ISBN 978-0008194222
20. Hirsch, Afua (19 October 2017). "English by Ben Fogle review – Marmite, queuing and weather". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
21. "Ben Fogle bookshop". Retrieved 19 June 2020.
22. "toppsta.com". Retrieved 19 June 2020.
23. "UN Environment announces Ben Fogle as new United Nations Patron of the Wilderness".
24. "Ben Fogle to fight National Park cause". Campaign for National Parks. 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009.
25. "Our Members". The Royal Geographical Society. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
26. "The Chagos islanders' plight makes me ashamed to be British: The exiled islanders are desperate for the right to return to their homeland – but Britain seems determined to stop them". The Guardian. 21 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
27. "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories". The Guardian. London. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
28. . Ben Fogle (via Twitter).
29. "Ben Fogle hits back at 'mean' responses to royal birthday song suggestion". BBC News. London. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
30. "BBC Two – World's Most Dangerous Roads, Series 1, Peru". Bbc.co.uk. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
31. "Marina Charlotte Elisabeth FOGLE - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
32. Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 2011, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, p. 807
33. County Life, vol. 162, 1977, p. 591
34. . Ben Fogle (via Twitter).
35. Fogle, Marina (7 August 2018). "Marina Fogle: I took up running to deal with the death of my stillborn son". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
36. Fogle, Marina (23 January 2015). "Marina Fogle: 'I never saw my son open his eyes or smile, but at least I told him how much he was loved'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
37. Staff (30 October 2008). "Fogle Catches a Flesh-Eating Bug". BBC News. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
38. Communicator – The newsletter of the University of Portsmouth – Issue 19 – Autumn 2007 Archived 5 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine (PDF format).
39. Gladwell, Amy (20 February 2013). "Newsbeat – TV presenter Ben Fogle claims drink was spiked with drug". BBC. Retrieved 7 April 2014.

External links

• benfogle.com, his official website
• Ben Fogle on Eden
• Ben Fogle on IMDb
• Works by or about Ben Fogle in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Atlantic Rowing Race
• Ben Fogle accused over Sarawak environmental propaganda