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South Wales Argus

Meet Ben - South Wales contestant on BBC's new Destination X

Destination X will be hosted by Gavin & Stacey star Rob Brydon, and is described as a mix between The Traitors and Race Across the World. The new series will see contestants travel around Europe on a bus with blacked-out windows, trying to work out where in the world they are. At the end of each episode, the contestants will guess where they think they are, placing an X on a map. Whoever puts their X furthest away from the location is immediately thrown off the X-bus and eliminated from the competition. The last person standing will walk away with a cash prize of £10,000. Meet Ben - the South Wales contestant taking part in Destination X One of the 13 contestants taking part in series one of Destination X is 42-year-old Surf School Director, Ben, who hails from South Wales. Ben has "20 years' experience of doing some crazy activities" including the likes of surfing and cliff jumping. He is now looking to take part in Destination X to show his boys "that Dad's still got it". When asked why he thought he was selected by the BBC for the show, Ben said: "I have experience and am fairly capable in outdoor activities. "Being a surfer, you're used to dealing with lots of situations very quickly. A lot of my friends define me as affable. I get on with people quite well. "I've just spent a few weeks in a caravan with my family so can handle confined spaces." The 42-year-old has maintained a level of fitness, ready for the show, and mentally has been treating it "as if I was going to prison". Top 10 best British TV series Ben explained: "I'll be cut off from everybody and have got to deal with new people and environments that might be testing and challenging. "It'd be nicer to think I'm going to space as an astronaut." He said the thought of being away from his family, with no contact, for so long was making him anxious. "That's one of the things I might struggle with. The longest I've spent away from my kids in 10 years is five days, and in that time, I still spoke to them," Ben added. "But I'm looking forward to not having to check my phone and to having real conversations with people." His plan to win Destination X and take home the £100k is to "not think too hard about it". Ben explained: "Sometimes I will overthink things to a point that I come up with the wrong answer. "So I want to be myself, have fun with it and try to lead with my gut." If he wins, Ben said he would put the £100k towards helping his local community. He said: "My whole life I've put people first, above money. "But there is that conundrum that the communities I support are constantly looking for funding so it would help. "There's a number of accessible bits of equipment I'd like to design and build, and that money would give me freedom to be able to make that happen." Rob Brydon says "I'd be hopeless" on Destination X Rob Brydon also opened up about his time on Destination X, revealing why he wanted to be a part of the show and how he would have fared on the BBC series. The Gavin & Stacey star said: "I've never done a TV show on this scale before. I loved the idea of it, the combination of having to work out clues as to where you are and having to get on with each other. "It struck me as the best bits of The Traitors with the best bits of Race Across the World. "The other thing that attracted me was the scale of it and being a part of a show as ambitious as this, with as huge a crew and as huge a team. "I knew it would be a real challenge to see if I could steer that ship." Rob Brydon said he was surprised at how invested he became in the show. (Image: BBC/TwoFour) Brydon said he was surprised at how invested he became during the series. He explained: "It didn't take long at all to get really fully invested in it. "You get involved with the contestants and you feel for them when they are struggling, and you celebrate with them when they do well. "It was a far more involving experience than I was expecting." When asked about how he would fare on Destination X, Brydon commented: "I think I would be hopeless at the game, I would not have a clue and would be cruelly exposed as being not too bright at all!" Destination X contestants travel on a bus with blacked-out windows. (Image: BBC/TwoFour) He continued: "I would have struggled hugely with that (being on the bus for 30 days) as well, particularly the lack of sleep. "They have nice bunks but nonetheless you're sleeping on a bus. You lose your privacy; I would have found that very difficult indeed." RECOMMENDED READING: When to watch Destination X Destination X begins on Wednesday, July 30 at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. There will be two new episodes every week, airing on Wednesdays and Thursdays.