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Byline: MARION McMULLEN
You are the chief instructor on SAS: Who Dares Wins. How did the TV work come about? I've had a crazy life when I look back on it. When I left the military I needed a job and it was one of the most daunting times in my life. I left the military after 27-plus years and I had to get up and earn a proper living.
The first job I got was as a bodyguard and that was all around the world of TV and film. I stepped into a movie with Sean Penn, which was a bit of fun, and I was asked all the time 'would you do a programme with ...' At the time I wasn't interested, but then I thought I could do something with this and that's how I ended up on SAS: Who Dares Wins.
I wasn't interested at first because of the title, it sounded sort of gimmicky, and I didn't want to be a part of that, but the first show went out and the producers approached me again and now I love it.
John Barrowman quit after only 32 minutes in the new series. What does it take to be on the programme? It is brutal, it really is, it's not a game show. It literally is a military course. It's a cliche, I know, but anyone coming on the programme needs to be comfortable with getting uncomfortable. It's sleep deprivation and you are going to miss out on your food. It's going to be cold and wet and there are going to be creepy crawlies, and you are going to be pushed to your limits.
But if you can stick it, and hold in there as long as you can, you learn so much about yourself.
You have been a bodyguard to people like Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Sir Michael Caine, Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe. Has that helped you deal with being recognised yourself now? I looked after some pretty famous people as a bodyguard and I'd see crowds of people all waiting just to say hi and I'd see the smiles on their faces when the celebs I was with shook their hand or signed something for them.
Now I'm in that position, not to the same extent, but if I make someone happy, if I can make their day, it's a pleasure to do that.
You are about to head off on tour again with Always A Little Further. Are you comfortable speaking to a live audience? I love it. It does so many good things for so many people and I get such great feedback.
What always surprises me is the age groups. I can see 70 and 80-year-olds in the audience and I think 'wow' and now we are getting a lot of young people coming along.
Touch wood, I've never had a worry or a problem about speaking live. My wife put a little presentation together for me when I first started and I did a charity tour. I thought it was meant to be for about 30 people and 300 turned up .... and all the electricity went out. (Laughs) I just carried on. You couldn't make this up.
How would you describe the tour? It's me telling my life journey basically. The trials and tribulations and being very honest about it. Some of it I'm proud of some of it I'm not. It's lessons in life.
The biggest question I'm asked is how do you get through dark times and problems?
My answer is if you're in a dark space, which everyone is going to be at some point, it's just the circle of life. But if you are in dark space then generally something has happened, someone has died or a relationship has ended, but it's happened, it's already history, so you can't change it, and as soon as you accept that, you can move forward.
You can do it on you own or reach out to people and say 'I'm having a bad time here'. If you want to sit there in a pity party and expect everyone to know what's inside your head, you are going to be there a long time.
You were a sergeant major in the SAS and spent more than 20 years in the Special Forces serving in countless warzones. Do you still train hard?
I try to train every day because I know, especially now I'm 59, that there could come a time when I can't train any more so, as much as it hurts, I do it. It also keeps me sane.
I normally get up and I'll go out, no music or anything like that, and I'll do a run and then some light weights later on. I can still run 10 miles. It does get harder as you get older.
My knees are smashed, my back is smashed after parachuting. The pain is there, but I block it out.
I may also go out with the wife and the dog later in the day. He's snoring on the other side of the room right now. I describe him as a drunken paratrooper. He's outrageous.
Is there anything you struggle with yourself? (Groans) I hate seeing myself on TV and hearing my own voice. It's terrible, I don't like it, but I've got used to not noticing cameras and I don't follow scripts. There are no re-takes and it's all honest.
Some of the stuff I've done lately I've had to follow a script to get the narrative right and I struggled with that. You start becoming an actor and I think 'hold on a minute, that's not me'.
Where did you find yourself when you first joined the military? My first posting was Central America and all I heard was America. I thought it was going to be sun, sand, girls, beer and good times. My geography was so bad, I didn't realise Central America meant Belize and the jungle.
It was intimidating and scary and not what I really expected. I had only ever seen the jungle in Tarzan films. It was hard and brutal, and I finished my military career as the Sergeant Major of the jungle warfare school in Brunei. I was doing eight and nine months a year in the jungle, but I loved it. It became therapeutic to me. Most people hated it, but I loved it.
So would you do well on I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here? (Laughs) I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! would be like a fivestar holiday camp. That's not the jungle. It's an afternoon forestry walk.
| Always A Little Further tours from October 14. Visit fane.co.uk/billybillingham for ticket details.
CAPTION(S):
DARING TO CONQUER: Mark 'Billy' Billingham tells his life story on his tour Always A Little Further
BRUTAL: John Barrowman quit Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins 32 minutes after arriving at base camp
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