YOU suspect that there is very little which scares Jason Fox. After all, he was in the Marines and then the Special Boat Service for 10 years before coming to the public’s attention as one of the instructors on the TV show SAS: Who Dares Wins.

But even he, a man who has been involved in gunfights, hostage rescues and has stared down ruthless drug lords, admits his latest assignment is “nerve-wracking”.

There are no guns, no enemy, just an audience and a microphone as Jason recalls his extraordinary life in Life at the Limit which heads to Blackburn on Saturday.

“It is nerve-wracking but you have just got to embrace it,” he said. “It’ll all be good.”

It is this positive approach which makes Jason appear to be some kind of superman compared to most of us mere mortals. But he is quick to play down his achievements.

“I don’t think of what I’ve done as being special,” he said. “Obviously it’s outside the norm for most people but at the time it was the norm for me.

“When you are in the Special Forces you tend to live in a bubble and be around the same people all the time. For a large portion of my life I’ve been going away and doing all sorts of crazy stuff then coming back and talking about it to the lads who I did the crazy stuff with and then going out and doing it all again

“It’s only in the last few years when you start talking about what you’ve done to other people and they are like ‘what the hell was that all about?’ that you start to realise what you’ve done. I’d never thought about it as being unusual before that.”

It is through the TV show SAS; Who Dares Wins that most people have come to know Jason - one of the demanding and let’s face it downright scary ‘instructor’s’ who take ordinary people and celebrities and get them to complete SAS-style training.

“Everyone sees us as these mean, shouty military types but we’re not like that,” said Jason with a wry smile. “But having said that I genuinely don’t know why people volunteer for the show to be fair because we absolutely rinse them.

“Everyone thinks we go easier on the celebs than the civilian ones but we don’t. It’s just a slightly different dynamic.

“Because they are celebs we probably warm to them a bit quicker because you know them but we don’t pull any punches. They get put through the ringer big time.

“The point is for them to find out what their real potential is. They are not going to do that when they are being mollycoddled or looked after or things are easy. The whole point of the show is to give them a genuine experience when they get to see what they are capable of.”

Jason and fellow directing staff which has included Ant Middleton certainly don’t go easy on their recruits but, says Jason, there’s a reason behind it all.

“We are not there to break people down,” he said. “You are there to put them through really demanding situations and to guide them and to make sure that they don’t die!

“We are coaching them. We tell them what’s expected and pass on tips we have picked up along the way or teach them techniques when it comes to a particular task. Every now and again if people look close the the edge we will have a word with them and bring them back into the game.”

Many people watch the show with fascination borne out of the fact it’s something they would not be capable of doing.

“Everyone says ‘I haven’t got it in me’,” said Jason, “But the reason they haven’t got it in them is that they tell themselves that. If they turned round and said yeah, I’ve got in in me they’d probably do it. A lot of it is about your own narrative in your head.”

As well as his exploits in warzones and his adventures crossing the North Pole and canoeing the length of the Yukon, Life at the Limit will also touch on Jason’s hardest fight - how he overcame PTSD after he was medically discharged from the Special Forces.

He has subsequently become a passionate advocate for better mental health provision and has encouraged former soldiers to seek help and talk about their own personal difficulties.

“Initially I was reluctant to admit I had a problem or even talk about it,” he said. “There is a stigma attached to it and it took me a long time to finally realise I had to do something and try and fix myself.

“I go around talking about it now to help other people but also, even now, to keep it at the forefront of my mind. People say you never recover from it but I disagree, I think it comes down to your mindset. If you want to you will.

“That’s not to say it wouldn’t happen again in certain circumstances to me but I am better prepared to deal with it should it arise.

“I think I am more aware. Am I better person? I don’t know but I always strive to be better which is really all anyone can do.”

Jason admits he has become better at relaxing and taking time out rather than constantly living on adrenalin.

“When I was in the Special Forces it was full on all the time. I’d go skydiving when I was on the rare occasions when I was on leave,” he said. “Talk about a busman’s holiday!

“I’m better at relaxing now and can make time to just chill out in front of the TV. Only Fools and Horses is a great way to relax.”

But the adventures are set to continue. After his one-man show tours the country Jason is looking at arranging a major expedition for 2023.

“I’d like to go this year but the logistics are too complicated for that.” he said.

Jason Fox, Life At The Limits, King George’s Hall, Blackburn, Saturday, February 12. Details from www.bwdvenues.com