BIOGRAPHY | FACTFILE | Q&A

Ben Parr Q&A: The Day I Almost Died

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Date : 1st January 2007

Q: For the record then, what’s your full birth name?
A: Benjamin Thomas Stephen Parr. I think Thomas was a dispute between my mum and dad wanting to call me Thomas. Stephen is my dad’s middle name and it was also my grandad’s name, so that was just a follow on really.

Q: When’s your birthday?
A: January 16, 1987.

Q: An old guy, hey?
A: I’m starting to feel old and getting wrinkles. My joints are aching (laughs).

Q: Where were you born?
A: I was born in Doncaster Hospital. I am Doncaster born and bred. That was more through luck than anything else. It was at a time when my dad was in America all the time. It was luck that my mum was back in England.

Q: It wasn’t anything to do with your dad wanting you to play cricket for Yorkshire? At that time you had to be born in the county to play for the team.
A: Well, it had been talked about. But I didn’t develop the build for a cricket player. I became a little more athletic so to speak.

Q: Darren Gough will be after you for that?
A: (Laughs).

Q: Let’s get your vital stats…how tall are you?
A: I’m 6ft tall, 13 and a half stone – my fighting weight. Out of training, usually I go up to about 14 stones. Just through weight training really, putting on the weight. When I’m lean and fit I’m 13 and a half stones.

Q: You’re living at home with your family – what’s their names?
A: There’s my dad, John, brother James, mum Sharon and nana, Betty, who lives with us most of the time. So we’re quite a small family really. My dad comes from Worksop and my mother from Castleford. But over the years people have passed on. So we’re quite a small family really.

Q: How old is your brother James.
A: He’s 16. He’s the young brother .

Q: So he’s got all the hand-me-downs has he?
A: Well so he should have. He’s mastered this method on e-bay of passing all my stuff through e-bay first. So he seems to have missed that stage out.

Q: It’s going to be worth a few more quid now. He should have kept hold of it?
A: Yeah. That’s what it is. When he keeps asking me to sign this and sign that, he’s practising for forging later.

Q: What sports do you enjoy?
A: I play quite  a wide range of sports. I play a bit of football. I’m really into contact sports - boxing and kick boxing, Tae Kwon Do. All those type of sports really. When I was younger I was a good swimmer. I was pushed into horse riding by my mum. That was quite interesting (smiles). It was alright when I was younger. It was one of those things I had to make a good choice on that it wasn’t for me.

Q: What about so-called extreme sports?
A: Skiing, yeah – I do skiing. I’ve been away skiing quite a few times in the last two years. I really enjoy it. It’s a nice winter break. It’s probably the most extreme thing I do.
I went  downhill mountain biking in Wales. This was last year (2006). I went with my teachers, when I was in sixth form. They said you’ll be fine Ben, you’re really fit. You’ll be able to keep up. So I got the bike out. I hadn’t been on a bike in five or six years. I’ve never really been into biking. So I borrowed somebody’s full suspension bike and it was too small. So I had to hire a bike. I took it out, this was the first day – and they said, ‘Follow us Ben. You’ll be fine’.
We did this big hour and a half hill climb, in first gear. The legs were starting to contract even when I got off the bike, so I was pretty bad then. We started on the downhill thing and I didn’t know what to expect. I’m thinking, it will be a nice bit of downhill and we’ll go like you know. We got on to these courses with big drops and rocks. There was a massive drop. I was thinking, this is not quite me, this. I was hanging on for dear life. Hand on the break all the time. And I managed to write off the mountain bike, twist the frame and break everything. I then had to carry it six miles down the mountain side in Wales back to the shop. And I had done the nasty thing of thinking that £2.95 insurance…nah, I would just pay the hiring fee. Why would I wan the insurance? Luckily the guy in the shop took one look at me, at the cuts and bruises on my arms and elbows and everywhere else, and said, ‘ if you sign  this bit we can get a new bike – and take this one’ . So I was quite lucky. But yes, it was a near death experience. Downhill mountain biking is not something I would advise, unless you really know what you’re doing.

Q: How did you come off…what did you hit? How bad were your injuries?
A: I was following an advanced rider and just went a bit too fast. There was a big boulder I ran into, doing about 25mph. The bike frame was wrecked. I was wearing an helmet and pads. I was lucky. I didn’t need medical treatment.

Q: But the adrenalin pump must be great – when it works?
A: Oh yeah. It was fantastic. I’ve never felt so near death in my life really!
It was one of those things really.
I was nearly talked into bungee jumping – a night out on holiday once, sat in a bar with a group of daredevil type solicitors in Gran Canaria. They were all doing a bungee jump, that they had managed to talk themselves into. Luckily enough, before the Jack Daniels came out, I had managed to say no. It was not for me. But a few people were non the wiser and their faces in the morning were very pale. I’m glad I didn’t sign myself up for that one.

Q: I see you’ve got a quad bike on the drive. So is it the more sedate things you enjoy now – like quad bike riding?
A: I won’t go down the same route as Ozzy Osbourne – but yes, I enjoy quad biking. I like physical training, boxing and kick boxing. That sort of stuff. And the gym work I really enjoy.

For the full Q&A interview - including Ben talking about his Tae Kwon Do World champoinship fights, his dreams of playing 007 James Bond, work experience on the Die Another Day filmset and how he felt on getting his Hollyoaks role, contact Famous Pictures & Features Agency (See Top of Page)

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