Cover Model Muscle Jason Fox
The adventurer, presenter and former special forces soldier has never been short of grit. But his hardman image belies an emotional sensitivity and quiet thoughtfulness. Jason Fox talks to Men’s Health about discipline, introspection and winning your internal battles
You’d be forgiven for expecting aman like Jason Fox to have a bit of an ego. After all, as one of the co-presenters of Channel 4’s wildly popular SAS: Who Dares Wins, he’s built sufficient a fanbase to take his life story on tour with his show Jason Fox – Life At The Limit, and is about to publish his third book (more on which later).
He’s also as physically capable as he is impressively built, having served two decades in the military, including in the ultra-elite Special Boat Service.
But despite a CV that would swell the self-esteem of lesser men, the 47-year-old is disarmingly modest. He’s self-effacing in front of the camera, particularly with his top off – and yes, he has seen that rig – and reluctant to dole out sound bites.
He sat down to chat with Men’s Health’s Andrew Tracey.
MH: Would you rather I called you Jason or Foxy?
JF: It’s up to you. I’ve been called Foxy since I was a kid. My dad and two brothers were also called Foxy. So, someone would phone the house, my mum would answer, they’d be like, ‘Can I speak to Foxy?’ And she’s like, ‘Are you taking the piss? There’s fucking four of them.’ But I notice some blokes are a bit uneasy calling another bloke Foxy.
MH: So, Foxy, you’ve just finished your first Men’s Health cover shoot. How are you feeling?
JF: Good. The nerves have gone. It’s over.
MH: I think people would be surprised to hear how nervous you were about it this morning.
JF: Was it obvious? Yeah, I was nervous. I’m not that sort of person… I’m reluctant to take my top off if I’m around the pool on holiday.
MH: Where do you think that anxiety comes from?
JF: I don’t know, actually.
MH: Talk us through your training history. What did fitness mean to you before you joined the forces?
JF: I owe my old man a lot. He was big into fitness when we were kids. He played a lot of rugby when he was younger, then he got into coaching hockey. My brothers and I played a bit of rugby, played a bit of hockey and we would also jump in on fitness sessions with the teams he was training.
Then, when I was 15, I decided I was joining the marines. My dad was like, ‘Well, if you’re joining the marines, I want you to be ready.’ And he set me a [training] programme. So, at 15 years old, I bought myself a rucksack with a bit of pocket money and loaded it up. I used to yomp from Luton up the A5 to Milton Keynes.
My dad had a friend who was a PE teacher at a school in Bletchley
