Isle's Doritos were Bear's necessities

Frank Rothwell

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FRANK Rothwell made some important discoveries during his adventures on Channel 4's The Island with Bear Grylls . . . Doritos are "delicious" and coconut water "tastes almost as good as a pint of JW Lees"!

After the flat-capped businessman's stint as a guest of Bear Grylls on the survival special, which ended its TV run on Sunday, he has been spoken of his experiences to The Chronicle.

After five weeks of eating what he and his fellow islanders could catch, kill or forage, he said a sneaky treat from Bear tasted like the best thing ever.

Frank, who owns Manchester Cabins and was the oldest person on the island at 66, said: "After we left the island in the boat on the way back Bear threw us a couple of bags of Doritos and, honestly, the flavours were amazing.

"We had to share them between us, but they were delicious - I never knew they could taste so good.

"Once we were back on the production island we were allowed to eat fruit and later we had a small dinner of roast chicken which tasted absolutely gorgeous."

He said the mainstay of his diet was coconuts. At one point he was heard to compare drinking coconut milk to his favourite JW Lees tipple.

Cast away in a remote Panamanian location and left to slay snakes, turkeys and caiman for food, Frank and the islanders on the show were pushed to the limits and were desperate to leave when the island was hit by torrential tropical storms.

His no-nonsense and can-do attitude ensured he featured heavily in the first couple of episodes as two groups of different generations were pitched against each other in a bid to survive.

There were flashpoints when they decided to merge with the younger members, with Frank frustrated at the lack of input from the 18-30 reality TV contestants.

And, despite taking the youngest member, Freddie Wilson, under his wing and assisting him to make the hunger-stricken islanders' first kill - a snake - the 18-year-old left the camp after a few days.

A coup to kick cameraman Phil Coates off the island shocked viewers, but how did Frank vote?

"I voted for him to leave," he said. "He was at the centre of a lot of arguments."

Frank got on well with several of the woman in the older group, including the controversial and outspoken retired police officer Jane Gates and shop owner Karen Bretagne.

Armed with only a couple days of survival training, the 16 contestants were left to fend for themselves and battle the elements.

Despite the majority complaining of being racked with hunger, Frank said he managed to cope pretty well.

"During the training they told us if the average man does not have water for four days they are dead," he said.

"If you don't eat for 40 days you are dead, but if you eat a coconut a day you can survive for 80 days, so I thought: 'it's coconuts for me'.

The liquid inside is an electrolyte and it gives you instant energy and strength.

"There were also oysters - not like the ones you get over here. You have to chip them off the rocks. So I mainly survived on coconut and shellfish.

"I got my head around the hunger thing before I started, so it didn't bother me as much as some of the others.

"I can honestly say I never felt as hungry as I do when I come home from work and tea is not ready for another hour. I'm always starving then!"

Frank was seen to be the first to make a fire, but he said it was a bit of slog.

"It took me 18 hours to light that fire," he said. "I spent four hours on the first night. Then I started again as soon as it got light.

"On the day we wanted to quit it rained continuously for a couple of days. In fact it rained most days, on and off, particularly at night when you really didn't want it to.

"I think it was actually much harder being there than it appeared on the show."

* An Evening with Frank Rothwell will see the businessman talking about his island adventures to raise funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Saddleworth.

The event is on Wednesday, July 12, at 8pm at Boarshurst Band Club, Greenfield.

Tickets are £7.50, including a glass of wine, and are available from 01457 873375 or Uppermill Post Office