Benjamin Myer Fogle (born 3 November 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer and adventurer, best known for his presenting roles on programmes shown on British television channels Channel 5, BBC and ITV.
Fogle is the son of English actress Julia Foster and Canadian veterinarian Bruce Fogle. He was educated at two independent schools: The Hall School, Hampstead, in London, and Bryanston School in Blandford Forum, Dorset. Fogle’s paternal grandfather, Morris Fogle, was the son of Eastern European Jews who migrated to Scotland to avoid persecution.
After completing his studies, Fogle took a gap year to Ecuador, working in an orphanage teaching English. He then took a second year working on a turtle conservation project on the Mosquito Coast of Honduras and Nicaragua.
Fogle undertook a degree in Latin American studies at the University of Portsmouth, graduating with lower second-class honours. He also studied for a year at the University of Costa Rica during his degree.
During this time, Fogle was a member of the University Royal Naval Unit (URNU). He became a Midshipman in the Royal Naval Reserve, serving as an officer on HMS Blazer and delivering aid to war-torn Bosnia and Croatia.
Fogle's initial jobs included picture editor at Tatler magazine.
Fogle first came to public notice when he participated in the BBC reality show Castaway 2000, which followed a group of thirty-six people marooned on the Scottish island of Taransay for a year, starting 1 January 2000. This was a social experiment aimed at creating a fully self-sufficient community within a year.
Fogle is a television presenter who has worked for the BBC, ITV, Channel 5, Sky, Discovery and the National Geographic channels in the UK. He has hosted Crufts, One Man and His Dog, Countryfile, Country Tracks, Extreme Dreams with Ben Fogle, Animal Park, Wild on the West Coast, Wild in Africa, "Ben Fogle – African Migration" and Ben Fogle's Escape in Time.
In 2010, Fogle made a film about the facial deforming disease noma for a BBC Two documentary Make Me A New Face which followed the work of the charity Facing Africa and Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Fogle has produced films about naval history and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for the History Channel and followed Princes William and Harry on their first joint Royal Tour in Botswana and made an exclusive documentary called Prince William's Africa. He marked the centenary of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole with The Secrets of Scott's Hut. Fogle is popular on the motivational and corporate speaking circuit. His two-part documentary, Swimming with Crocodiles aired on BBC Two in 2012. Production commenced in 2011 for Storm City in 3D on Sky One and National Geographic. Fogle was hired for two years as a special correspondent for NBC News in the United States, in 2011. Their purpose was to cover the April royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton and the 2012 London Olympics.
Fogle appeared on the programme Countryfile with John Craven from 2001 to 2008, during which he reported on a number of UK rural pastimes. He rejoined the programme in 2014.
Since 2013, Fogle has presented two series of Harbour Lives, a documentary series on ITV. In 2014, Fogle joined the presenting team on ITV series Countrywise with Liz Bonnin and Paul Heiney, which covers aspects of the British coast and country.
Since 2013, Fogle has presented his show for Channel 5 called Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild, that sees him follow the stories of people living "off grid" in the wild and isolated from society. In 2024, he interviewed musician Vanessa Forero in her Colombian cabin about the kidnapping of her mother Marina Chapman, and has expressed his hope to make a film about Chapman's life story.
Fogle took over as the host of recommissioned and re-titled Ben Fogle's Animal Clinic on Channel 5, replacing disgraced presenter Rolf Harris.
In 2016, Ben Fogle also had an accidental appearance on the hit TV series taskmaster during a task in which the contestants were completing a task on the river with giant foam hands, Dave Gorman asked Ben Fogle to yell from across the river.
In 2026, Fogle participated in the seventh series of The Masked Singer as "Sloth". He was unmasked in the seventh episode.
Fogle was the first to cross the line in the pairs division of the 2005–2006 Atlantic Rowing Race in "Spirit of EDF Energy", partnered by Olympic rower James Cracknell. While competing in the 3,000-mile race, the pair had their boat fully capsized by huge waves. They made landfall in Antigua at 07.13 GMT on 19 January 2006, a crossing time of 49 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes. After penalties, they were placed second in the pairs and fourth overall. In 2007, the BBC series that followed the pair, Through Hell and High Water, won a Royal Television Society award.
He has also completed the six-day Marathon des Sables for the World Wide Fund for Nature across 160 miles (260 km) of the Sahara Desert and the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya for the Tusk Trust, with Longleat Safari Park keeper Ryan Hockley. Fogle has completed the Bupa Great North Run in 1 hour 33 minutes, the London Marathon and the Royal Parks Half Marathon. He beat EastEnders actor Sid Owen in a three-round charity boxing match for BBC Sport Relief under the training of Frank Bruno and he recently re-ran the Safaricom marathon in Kenya with the injured Battleback Soldiers.