I am very proud of rowing the Atlantic Ocean.

I wouldn't want to go into mainstream, Downing Street politics, though - it's just too cut-throat. I've got quite thin skin.

I'd be quite happy if cars were banned from central London. Why are we not using little tuk-tuks rather than big black cabs?

London really is my city; I was born within a breath of Marble Arch.

We're a much more touchy-feely, hands-on generation than our fathers but juggling work, family and social life and trying to be romantic and keep yourself fit is really hard. I want to be the perfect dad but you can't be the perfect dad unless you compromise elsewhere.

When I reached the summit of Everest, I scooped some ice into my drinking bottle as I'd run out of water and hoped it would melt. After I got back to base camp, I decided to keep it, so I had a special bottle made with an inscription - it's my lucky water.

I do try to reduce my carbon footprint a little bit by travelling around London on my electric bike. A lot of people raise their eyebrows but I love riding it.

I'm acutely aware of the environment but I'm far from perfect - I love Land Rovers and fly too much.

I'm the son of a vet and grew up with golden retrievers. Dogs have always loomed large in our lives but labradors have the nicest personalities: kind, loyal and caring.

I find 'EastEnders' so utterly bleak.

I had a short run as the presenter of 'Cash in the Attic'. It's a very popular show but didn't really suit me.

Broadcasters and production companies often don't appreciate the complexities of viewing habits, but Gogglebox has highlighted how in-depth people go when watching TV.

Whenever I leave home to film, my wife Marina gets terrified that I'm going to come back having bought a tiny plot of land in rural Alaska.

After university, I was desperate to be an ambassador. It went back to geography: I loved the idea of living in exotic and exciting countries, but still driving a Land Rover and having tea. I failed the Foreign Office exams three times.

Geography was the lesson I always looked forward to most. It was a form of escapism. It could be bleak midwinter outside but inside you're learning about African farming methods or the Great Lakes. No other lesson had that excitement.

Although I'm a city boy, I am a rural person at heart - and that comes from school. I'd lived near Marble Arch in London and it was fantastic to be surrounded by fields and trees.

I loathed my first term boarding at Bryanston school in Dorset. I hated being away from home; I think I had my parents in tears every time I spoke to them. I regret being so spoilt because within two terms I loved it.

In the presenting area, there's nothing that really sets me apart from anyone else. It's something I enjoy but I was never going to set the world on fire.

I failed my exams and my driving test. I failed to get into the Foreign Office and drama school. The big F was dominant in my early years.

Without risk you can't experience life. There have to be risks, physically and mentally, taken by everyone.

We as humans, we're not solitary people, we're like dogs, we like to live in packs and know about one another. And, if anything, fame is people trying to attain community on a mass scale, because when you become famous wherever you go people know about what you've done and what you're about to do.

When I was on Taransay, I loved being part of a community, I loved that everyone knew what I was doing, where I was going. I loved that. I liked knowing that if I wasn't back at a certain time people would start worrying a little bit about me, I loved the whole community thing, sitting for hours and chatting to people.

I would hide behind my parents' legs at social events, I was even shy in front of my sisters. I was a really, really ridiculously shy boy. But the one thing I took from my public school education was confidence.

You learn so much about how far you can push yourself and what you can do. How an experience like Antarctica helps you, it boosts your confidence.