A former Traitors finalist has set off from the famed Inverness castle where the hit TV show was filmed on a trek across Scotland and Wales for a brain injury charity.
Andrew Jenkins, who hails from Talbot Green in south Wales, has begun a 1200km (750 miles) journey over 42 days for Headway – a brain injury charity.
The 46-year-old, who was a finalist in the second series of the BBC hit show, has embarked from Ardross Castle in Inverness, and hopes to average 30 to 35km a day.
Before heading off on his lengthy trek, the TV personality has already raised over £22,500 and hopes to hit his target of £100,000.
The Welsh insurance broker has taken up the challenge after a serious car accident dashed his rugby dreams and left him in a coma for four weeks at the age of 21-years-old.
‘On August 28, 1999, I was involved in a very serious road traffic accident where my dream of playing rugby for Wales was taken from me, and my life was rewritten,’ he told Headway.
‘Driving home from a wedding, my wheel hit the curb and I flipped the car onto its side. I was thrown out of the driver’s window.
‘I slid along the floor then and as soon as my head hit the floor, I was unconscious. I was dragged along the floor for a couple of hundred yards and the car was sliding. When it finished sliding, it was leaning on top of me.
‘It was very touch and go, they took me to the Royal Gwent in Newport the hospital not far from where the accident had happened,’ he added.
‘There was nothing they could do for me there, so I had a police escort to the Morriston Hospital in Swansea because that’s where neurology and plastic surgery were.
‘While all this was going on, my parents had a knock on the door from the policeman to say that I’d been involved in a road traffic accident, that it was quite serious and to come straight away.
‘My parents at the time, were getting ready for bed so they were in their nightwear. My mother says she recalls that night every single day since it happened 24 years ago.’
At the time, Andrew’s family and friends were warned that he may never wake up, and that if he did his mental and physical abilities may be severely impacted.
However, the Traitors contestant beat the odds and learnt how to walk again, but continued to suffer ‘for twenty-odd years in silence’.
Now he is taking on the UK-wide challenge, journeying from Scotland to Cardiff Castle in his native home country of Wales.
The journey will see him visit several renowned castles including Lancaster Castle and Carrickfergus Castle in Northern Ireland.
Reflecting on why he began his journey from the Traitors castle, he said it was the ‘perfect’ location as it was ‘a place that changed my life’.
He continued: ‘Headway does incredible work to support survivors of brain injuries and their families as it can have a huge impact on all of their lives too, as my family and I found out following my accident.
‘I’m also undertaking this challenge for everyone out there who has been told they can’t do something, who think they can’t achieve anything, and who have lost their self-belief.
‘I want to show them that even though life can feel impossibly hard at times, there’s always a way forward – literally one step after the next can take you a long way.’
During the trek Andrew will also give talks on wellbeing and mental health to a number of sports and community groups.
Jen Murgatroyd, Headway’s director of fundraising, said the charity was ‘immensely grateful’ for Andrew’s efforts.
A third series of the Traitors has already been filmed in Inverness, with a celebrity edition and a fourth series having also been commissioned.
Since its launch in 2022, The Traitors has proved to be a hit show, with almost seven million people tuning in to the final episode of the second season earlier this year.