Ben Fogle has revealed that he applied to be on Cilla Black’s Blind Date because he was ‘so shy’ with women when he was younger.
The TV star, 51, told Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time podcast how he signed up after being left ‘green with envy’ when his friend appeared on the dating show.
Blind Date was a British game dating show which saw people matched up on TV and sent on a blind date, with the cameras following their every move.
Singer Cilla presented the show from 1985 until 2003 while the late Paul O’Grady took over hosting from 2017 until 2019 when the show was brought back to screens.
Speaking of signing up for the show, Ben said: ‘My best friend Jake, who currently works for the UNHCR, saving people’s lives, he has a proper job.
‘Far more important job than I will ever have. And the things he does are extraordinary. I’m so proud of him.
Ben Fogle has revealed that he applied to be on Cilla Black’s Blind Date because he was ‘so shy’ with women when he was younger
However, he had to make a life-altering decision as he was offered to appear on both Blind Date and Castaway, leading to him ultimately turning down the dating show
‘He and I were best friends, and he went on a little show with Cilla Black called Blind Date, he got a date.
‘And I was green with envy. So I applied for blind date. Not for the television’, he clarified, insisting he had no plans of TV fame at the time.
‘Genuinely, I was single, and even though I was working in an office full of mainly women, I was just so shy, I thought I needed a kickstart.
‘So I applied for Blind Date at the same time as castaway. Now some people may be going, oh, so you did want to be on television.
‘It was kind of a fun, you know, it sounded quite fun, but it wasn’t in search of kind of fame. I just wanted a date.
However, he had to make a life-altering decision as he was offered to appear on both Blind Date and Castaway, leading to him ultimately turning down the dating show.
Castaway was a reality TV programme where 36 men, women, and children built a community on remote Scottish island Taransay and lived there for the year of 2000.
Ben explained: ‘I had to decide. Yes or no? Yes or no? Which one was I going to take? Was it going to be a year living on an island in the Hebrides with lots of sheep in the rain, where I’d have to give up my job?
Singer Cilla presented Blind Date from 1985 until 2003 while the late Paul O’Grady took over hosting from 2017 until 2019 when the show was brought back to screens
Castaway was a reality TV programme where 36 men, women, and children built a community on remote Scottish island Taransay and lived there for the year of 2000
‘Or did I keep the status quo of the job and staying at home and possibly get a date and be on television. And it was it was a really hard one, but I said no to Blind Date.’
He admitted that there would be ‘no way’ he would have carved out a career for himself as an adventurer if he hadn’t appeared on Castaway.
Since appearing on the programme, Ben has spoken about his enduring affection for what is Scotland’s largest uninhabited island and once even wanted to buy it.
He and 35 other people were sent to the island for what the BBC billed as a ‘bold new experiment’ as they fended for themselves in the Scottish wilderness.
It wasn’t plain sailing with those taking part putting up with foul weather, a revolt against programme makers, smuggled mobile phones, a flu outbreak, blazing rows and even a contestant in a speed boat escape.
Of the 36 who joined the show just 29 remained, including Ben, and there was no winner nor cash prize for their ordeal.
The broadcaster, whose career started on the programme, said: ‘We were isolated from the rest of the world.
‘Without phones, computers, social media, newspapers, television or outside interference, we were forced to live in the moment.
‘We communicated and lived. Really lived in the moment of our own timeline, rather than someone else’s.
‘We lived, we loved and we laughed. I’d love to try and repeat the experiment a quarter-of-a-century later.
Since appearing on the programme, Ben has spoken about his enduring affection for what is Scotland’s largest uninhabited island and once even wanted to buy it
‘They were some of my happiest, most carefree days.’
However, he added that a lot has changed since his days on TV and said he doesn’t agree with cancel culture as he discussed the mistakes he has made in life.
He told the podcast: ‘There’s behaviour that I’ve done. I’m not perfect. I’ve made mistakes.
‘And there’s things that perhaps I shouldn’t necessarily have done, but I genuinely don’t have any regrets because I think all those failures, all those mistakes, shouldn’t necessarily define you.
‘I think they just make you a make you a bit stronger. I think you learn from them. I think there’s this fear now that people have of making mistakes and society.
‘You know, if we look at it, you know, if we look at the cancel culture, it’s like you could have a 25-year stellar career, but make, say, one stupid comment that was ill conceived and that’s it.
‘But that’s not what life should be like. We humans should be made to make mistakes. Otherwise we’re just robots, aren’t we? You know?
‘So I think first of all, I don’t have any regrets. And I think what I’ve learned is just to be respectful of others.’