Meet Russ Malkin and Charley Speed. Russ is an adventurer, having travelled the world with Ewan McGregor on 'Long Way Down', and 'Long Way Round'- a long and grueling adventure across the harshest terrains and sleeping rough in remote locations. Charley is a contributor to the international luxury magazine, Lusso, was VH1 Vogue's Male Model of the Year, ex-Britain's Next Top Model judge, and doesn't camp.
Throughout the episodes, they take on a series of adventures-with Russ longing for the bare-bones adventure and Charley fighting for the finer things. They are both as competitive as each other and the different adventures build in size as they constantly try and outperform each other... eventually culminating in one fierce and final challenge.
Russ Malkin and Charley Speed
Female First got the opportunity to quiz the men about their five most challenging moments in their time to-date, with some very varied answers! Check out what they had to say, below...
Russ Malkin
1. I was on a boat in Vietnam which was overloaded. We were out at sea between two large mountains when suddenly the weather turned. The waves were higher and swamped the boat, killing the engine.
If the boat had tipped it was a long and dangerous swim to shore. We were filming for a BBC doc and managed to keep filming... I had my whistle and managed to attract the attention of a small fishing boat that pulled us to safety.
2. In London I said yes to a rock climbing adventure. A few months later I was hanging by my finger tips on a vertical face thinking "what the f*** am I doing here?!"
The guy who advised on the film Cliffhanger had us on the top of a peak literally walking with our feet on either side of a ridge, with instant death on both sides.
I said, "Why am I tied to you? If I fall you fall!" He said it was a sense of security. Mmmmmm... We camped up there in a howling gale and got pulled off at dawn by a helicopter that hovered whilst we all piled in. Then I had a big breakfast!
3. I camped in the tropical rainforest of Guyana. After seeing the spectacular Kaitor Falls we spent a night in the jungle. I made a shelter and spent all night getting out of my hammock to pick up old branches for the fire.
I didn't sleep a wink, then our guide arrived back at dawn and said he'd nearly trod on a Bushmaster snake as he left us the previous night! And I'd been walking around picking up snake shape wood all evening, oblivious!
4. I was riding a Royal Enfield Bullet in India - it's an old British motorcycle now very successfully made in India.
I was determined to get to the Taj Mahal for sunset and was riding quickly down a dual carriageway only to find two trucks coming towards me on my side, I had to duck between the two. I spent the rest of the journey steering around cows in the road. Eventually, I came to a railway crossing.
As the barriers went down people on bikes, cycles-cars and trucks formed up on both sides of the road. Even before the train came people pushed under the barrier and narrowly missed the train as the cycled across. Then when the barrier came up there's was a big bun fight as everyone tried to fight through.
I managed to follow an ambulance, which ducked through all the traffic and finally got there! Amazing seeing the Taj from the other side of the river as the sun sets. It was bliss, but then out came the mosquitoes!
5. The wide open steppes of Mongolia are beautiful. No roads, no fences, because no one owns the land. I was driving in my jeep and the night before it had rained.
We had spent the evening in the 'ger' (a round, white tent) with a family who treated us to a delicacy... Testicles!
I was probably recovering and had raced across the planes feeling good with the world. I think my back tyre was flat, as I came over a crest the car went sideways... I tried to put on a bit of opposite lock to correct, errr, no! The wheel caught in a cart rut and the whole jeep flipped over!
It rolled over twice and smashed to bits. I was trapped inside the car with our doctor, with fuel leaking on us from the tanks on the roof. Whoops!
Charley Speed
As one probably imagines, the life of a model isn't a particularly trying one in the grand scheme of things...
1. But my first catwalk show season was a fairly daunting experience. Back then I was one of the youngest guys on the circuit, and being shipped off on your own around the world at sixteen years old into the headstrong and supremely cut-throat world that is high fashion can be a particularly lonely and isolating experience. Constant rejection at castings tends to grind you down, so developing a thick skin is essential.
2. I was extremely fortunate to land my first major campaign within months of starting modelling. Though it was somewhat of a double edged sword, as it was a Calvin Klein campaign and I'd be shooting with none other than Kate Moss. I wasn't into fashion when I was growing up and I still didn't really know what I doing, so walking into the studio and having to 'perform' in front of such a high end client (Calvin was there) next to such a famous supermodel was a pretty scary experience.
3. I'm not particularly claustrophobic, but having a full upper body plaster cast mould made for a film role was a bizarre and uncomfortable experience. You're completely covered in plaster, you can't see and you can't move an inch for two hours, with nothing but straws up your nose to breath. Once the process starts, there's no going back. It's extremely claustrophobic.
4. The experience of being a judge on Britain's Next Top Model was, at times, a difficult one. You've got all these desperately hopeful young girls' dreams in your hands and your opinion could potentially make a huge difference to their lives and career. Being ruthlessly critical wasn't my style, but letting some of those girls go was incredibly difficult, and carried with it its fair share of guilt. Trying to critique as sensitively as possible, then deliberating whether you'd made the right decision was tricky. It was tough on those girls.
5. The pressure to get my motorcycle license just one week before we started filming Road Rivals was pretty intense. I took an intensive three day course, but failed my first test on a basic U-turn. Apparently I'd kissed the white line, though the instructor let me finish and told me I'd aced everything else. They only had one retest date available and it was the week before filming. If I'd failed again it would have put the whole shoot in jeopardy. And just to add to it, the knackered old Suzuki Bandit they put me on was a pig. Really jumpy throttle response and I had to get accustomed to it on the way to the test centre!
Road Rivals premieres at 9pm on the 10th August on Travel Channel Freeview 42, freesat 150, Sky 249, Virgin292.