Ed Stafford
Ed Stafford’s not one to turn down an impossible challenge.
After becoming the first person to walk the length of the Amazon, the former army captain’s back with another show that will push him to the edge of this endurance in the form of Naked and Marooned which will see him dumped on to a desert island with only his wits to help him.
So, what inspired you to take on this colossal challenge?
Well, I did an expedition to walk the length of the Amazon, which took two and half years. I self-filmed the whole thing and when I got back I sold the footage to Discovery Channel and they we developed a nice relationship. So, they turned around to me and asked what I wanted to do next. I like adventure and survival TV, but thought there was space to move it on a level.
What I’ve always done is self-filmed things so it’s real, so what I said to them is that I wanted to do a survival mini-series but for it to be completely non-scripted and real. I didn’t want to go away for two and half years again, so we thought what we’d need to remove to make 60 days hard enough so that I’m genuinely challenged and stressed.
So, initially they removed any help from people, then equipment, then food and then eventually we just thought why not go the whole way and see if you were able to survive if you washed up naked on a desert island with absolutely nothing. I honestly didn’t know, so we turned it into a show. I have to admit it was far, far harder than I ever expected it to be. At moments, it was far harder than walking the Amazon in terms of the isolation.
Which was harder, the physical or psychological aspect of this experience?
I always thought it would be the psychological side and I was proved right. I thought it would be slower to progress, I thought I would be fine for the first couple of weeks an later become lonely. It hit me as soon as I could hear the boat leaving me on the island I was smacked by the enormity of the realisation that if I don’t find water pretty quickly, I’m not going to last past the day. It became real immediately and it was almost overwhelming.
In normal everyday life, you never usually have to completely rely on yourself. There’s always someone there to turn to for advice, or have a joke with or even share the experience with. That was a massive part of the pressure, doing it all on your own.
Before the project, I went out to Australia to see a couple of Aboriginal friends of mine, because at they get dropped off in the bush for about 40 days as a coming of age ceremony. They told me not to underestimate what I was about to do and not to underestimate the effect that not talking to anyone for sixty days will affect you.
Did having to film everything make it even harder?
Quite frankly, I think that helped. It gave me a goal each day. I had to produce footage everyday and in a world where there’s no structure or timeline, doing that at least gave me a specific goal. Without that I would have been tempted to stick to whatever had gotten me through the last day. Filming forced me to evolve and get of my arse and make sure my state of play got better and better. I think it was a help.
You see Cast Away, where Tom Hanks was talking to a volleyball called Wilson, for me, the camera was my Wilson. They always said that they wanted me to talk to the camera like it was my best friend, be it a slightly stupid one you have to explain everything to. That’s what I did and it gave me a legitimate reason for speaking out loud, because usually that’s an indicator of going a bit nutty bonkers.
It added pressure though as by walking the Amazon I built up a certain reputation with a certain set and for a while I wasn’t even able to get a fire going and because of it being such a public test, it was an added pressure.
Having seen your travails with starting a fire, has this made you grateful for lighters?
Very grateful. When I did the Amazon rip I just carried a lighter and used that every night and it never failed me. People always said to me that surely I should be able to light a fire with two pieces of wood, but I’m an exhibition leader, not a survival expert. A lot of those bush craft experts are only experts as well because they’ve spent hours in front of the TV practicing that, which is something I could never be bothered to do until this project.
So, while in the past I dismissed it as quite a geeky thing to do, knowing that you’re able to make fire just with the material things surrounding you is quite a reassuring thing. I’m glad I’ve learnt that now, but I’d still always take a lighter with me.
How much did you know about the island before you went there?
I’d been given a quick brief. I knew there was a water source, as without one I would never have been put there. I knew roughly where it was, they couldn’t hide the fact that I was flying in to Fiji. Aside from that, I didn’t know much.
It took about 45 minutes to walk around the island and it was that classic beautiful tropical island style, but the water source ended up not being as reliable as the team that researched the island had found. It had rained a lot when they were there and when I arrived it hadn’t rained in ages. So there was a slightly damp rock and I was only getting about one drip of drinkable water every forty seconds, which is pretty stressful.
What did you feel when you realised the time was up and you were coming back home?
I suppose because I always knew I was there for that timeframe, I was very aware when it was time to leave, the day didn’t creep up on me at all. I couldn’t wait to talk to people and see them again, that was the thing that I hated the most.
It got to a state when I would see the most beautiful sunset, but I would just look at it and shrug because I had no one there to share it with. You’d think you’d still be able to appreciate things, but I didn’t anywhere near as much. I think I was just looking forward so much to having normal conversations with people and being able to express myself.
I’ve been asked what I would have taken on to the island if I could only take one thing and even if they were really fat and useless, I would take a person. Just being able to have a chat with someone for a couple of minutes each day would have enormously helped.
Ever thought of a nice easy holiday instead?
Bizarrely I went on holiday to the Maldives right afterwards, as if I didn’t have enough island life. I’ve got a family though so they like nice holidays.
So, what’s next for you then?
I’m just in the process of getting a book deal about this project and if that goes ahead then I’ve got a couple of months writing. I’m also in talks with Discovery about future ideas and projects so if enough people watch this, then it’ll be the start of lots more stuff with Discovery Channel. I’m really lucky at the moment that all this is opening up for me.
Naked and Marooned with Ed Stafford airs tonight on Discovery Channel