Wife's words helped Fogle to Pole

Ben Fogle has revealed that he had a message from his wife Marina written on his sleeve during his recent 481-mile trek to the South Pole.

The adventurer and TV presenter told PA that the last miles in the gruelling Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race were so exhausting that he and teammates James Cracknell and Ed Coats collapsed every 10 metres.

He said: "She had actually scrawled in pen on the sleeve of my jacket, 'If you love me, keep on going'. I just repeated that again and again and again. I repeated it in my head hundreds of times."

Having crossed the finishing line, Fogle revealed that the thought of speaking to Marina had kept him going. "Reaching the finish line was probably one of the most emotional experiences of my life. We all burst into hysterical tears, uncontrollable sobbing, which none of us expected from ourselves or each other," he said.

There had been fears that the 35-year-old would be unable to compete in the Antarctic challenge after he contracted a rare flesh-eating disease while filming in Peru.