Castaway star returns to Bilton Grange

Alasdair Humberston

Alasdair Humberston

Spending a week on a remote Scottish island as part of a survival training course at Bilton Grange School, Dunchurch was good preparation for former pupil Alasdair Humberston when he appeared on the reality TV programme Castaway.

On a return visit to Bilton Grange, Alasdair (19) recalled how some of the skills he learnt during the trip to Ru’a Fiola in the Western Isles stood him in good stead for the three months he spent on Great Barrier Island in New Zealand for the television show.

A combination of his practical skills and common sense approach to life on the island with his 14 fellow contestants won him many admirers and he eventually finished third in the competition - despite being the youngest person taking part.

“We were only allowed to pack one bag for Castaway and one of the things I took was a tarpaulin which was so useful. I remembered that from the Bilton Grange trip. In fact, a lot of the things I did on Castaway I had learnt when we went to Ru’a Fiola,” he says.

Alasdair remembers watching the original Castaway programme, which was broadcast in 2000, when he was in his final year at Bilton Grange.

“It’s every boy’s dream to go to a remote place and try to survive. I thought then it would be a great thing to do but I didn’t imagine that one day I would,” he says.

Over 10,000 people applied to appear on the show and the eventual contestants were selected after four auditions and a series of practical and psychometric tests.

Being chosen for the TV show was a life changing experience for Alasdair. “I realised what is important to me in life now – my friends and family – and what should be important to me in the future.”

“I experienced things I had only seen in films or read about in poems and it gave me more understanding of the meaning of life and put me in touch with my emotions,” he says.

In fact, as a result of appearing on Castaway, Alasdair has decided not to study Business Management at Newcastle University later this year but to take a course in philosophy instead.

“I have lost my urge to be a big money man and am no longer interested in the material things in life,” he adds.

Alasdair travelled to Bilton Grange from his home in Northamptonshire for the annual Old Biltonians Day for past pupils, staff and parents which took place on Sunday July 1st.

He is photographed by the boating lake at the school. There is no island in the middle so he agreed to pose by the water’s edge!


Tags: OB Society