Freddie Flintoff reveals all about surviving Alone In The Wild in Botswana
'I was kicked out of the Scouts, so I wasn't really sure how well I'd do at surviving in the wild,' admits cricketer Freddie Flintoff.
While he won't explain exactly why he was unceremoniously dropped from the children's adventure group, the former England star is keen to share some of his stories about spending seven days in the wilds of Botswana - alone.
Flintoff was one of eight celebrities who signed up to the new Discovery Channel series Alone In The Wild and was given two days of wilderness training before being packed off to the middle of nowhere with nothing but a few key pieces of equipment and a hand-held camera.
Wilderness wanderer: Freddie Flintoff spent seven days in the wilds of Botswana, alone
This was no I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, nor a holiday with a few challenges thrown in. The Ashes hero admits he barely ate for a week.
'I had the training, but it's so difficult to actually get food in the wild, I ended up going without,' he tells TravelMail. 'I was starving by the end of it.'
But his grumbling stomach was the least of Flintoff's problems, particularly when he heard a lion roaring somewhere near his tent one night, something he managed to catch on camera, complete with a whispering admission that he is scared of the dark.
The cricketer also had a run-in with a herd of elephants while out with his camera one day, coming face to face with the majestic creatures, but at dangerously close range.
'I didn't really listen very well to the wilderness trainer, so I wasn't sure how close I could get or if I was in danger,' explains a grinning Flintoff.
Per! haps thi s comment gives an veiled insight into the Scouts incident?
After dark: Freddie managed to switch on his camera in time to catch an animal - thought to be a lion - outside his tent
But, despite a few hairy moments and seven days of hardship, he says his brush with nature in Botswana was an amazing experience and something he would never have done as a holidaymaker.
'When else do you get the chance to do that kind of thing?' he asks.
It is a question being repeated by each of the stars, who were put through their paces in the wilds of Botswana, the South American jungle in Guyana or a desert island off the coast of Belize, in Central America, for the programme.
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Winter Olympic gold medalist Amy Williams and record-breaking free diver Tanya Streeter also spent a week in Botswana's Okavango Delta, while comedian Joe Pasquale, investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre and SAS hero Chris Ryan all tackled the jungle in Guyana.
They tease Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner and mountaineer Aron Ralston (whose decision to cut off his own arm when he became trapped bya boulder in Utah was made into the award-winning film 127 Hours) for getting the 'soft option' of surviving on a deserted Belizean caye.
Easy option? Jason's inability to catch fish at first, saw him going hungry on a desert island off the coast of Belize
But Gardiner is quick to dispel any ideas that he spent the week sunbathing.
'Ohmy God, it was awful,' he tells TravelMail. 'I thought: "A week on a desert island - great!" But they didn't tell me it was rainy season! I spent seven days watching the rain come down.'
And it wasn't just the weather that kept Jason on his toes.
'Ididn't eat anything for the first three days,' he explains. 'It was a real test of survival. I was dehydrated and thought "I just want to get off this island"'.
The sharp-tongued choreographer and judge was also struck down with cellulitis after an insect lay its larvae under his skin and spent several days in hospital after he got back to the mainland.
In the jungle: Donal MacIntyre struggled at first when he went without food
But now he says he misses the challenges of fending for himself.
'I went on holiday to Ibiza recently and all I wanted to do was go out fishing,' he laughs.
'It sounds so sad, but honestly, there is nothing better than the feeling of catching and preparing your own meal.'
It's quite an admission for the self-confessed perfectionist whose ideal holiday is normally strutting his stuff in St Tropez and Nice.
In fact, his new-found love of back-to-basics travel even has Gardiner contemplating taking up his wilderness trainer on a challenge to try fending for himself in the jungle for a longer period of time.
It's an idea that has piqued Donal MacIntyre's interest too. While he admits he struggled with some aspects of the experience he is keen to see how he would survive for two weeks or more.
'I am a twin and really have not spent a lot of t! ime on m y own, so that part of the challenge was really interesting for me,' says MacIntyre.
'It was quite terrifying, there were trees falling around me and I never knew if the next one would come downon me. I've spent 18 months under cover for a story before, but this was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done.
'By day three I was walking into trees and talking rubbish, then I received a message in my drop box (the place where the celebrities left their camera tapes and where notes could be left as the only contact with the outside world) from the producers saying that if I didn't say something lucid to the camera, they would take me out of the jungle as they were worried about me.
'I think it was just the lack of food that drove me a bit mad, but after that I had a breakthrough and didn't even feel hungry for the rest of the time, I just turned it off. But I'd love to try it again for a longer period of time. You can get by for seven days without eating, but over a longer period of time you'd be forced to hunt, and that would be a real challenge.'
Emotional: Although Amy had definite low points, she said she loved being out among nature
While seven days of deprivation in the wild may not be many people's idea of a holiday, the stars are all adamant that in a modern, stressful world, it can be good to take some time out from it all, especially away from mobile phones.
'Botswana was really beautiful,' says Amy Williams. 'It was amazing to be out in the wild and see animals in their natural habitat.
'I am normally attached to my phone, so it was strange to be without it, but I enjoyed it in the end.
'As a treat at the end of our seven days we were allowed to go on safari and saw so many animals, I'd love to do it again.'
Flintoff adds: 'It's so different to seeing animals in the zoo, we were among incred! ible wil dlife in their own habitat, it was amazing.'
Alone in the Wild starts on the Discovery Channel on October 5 at 9pm. Visit www.discoveryuk.com for more information.
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