Shock revelation on The Island as Chris admits to serving prison time
The quiet 54-year-old Mancunian spent six and a half years behind bars for attempted robbery when he was "young and foolish"
Among all of the hunger chat, the injuries and the rescue missions on tonight’s The Island with Bear Grylls, the islanders – and us viewers – learnt something pretty unexpected: nice guy Chris spent six and a half years in prison.
This episode was the first real chunk of screen time the 54-year-old Mancunian has had. It was well set up too, what with the rest of the episode shining a light on just how lovely he is: never moaning, never grumpy, looking almost like he’s on a beach break in Tenerife rather than struggling to stay alive on a harsh island.
But when the others jokingly grilled him about his past it took them a minute to realise he was being serious about his time spent behind bars.
“Prison? What were you in for, being too nice?” they scoffed, clearly thinking he was pulling their leg. But then they realised he was being deadly serious and that this wasn’t a tale of pinching penny sweets from the local shop.
“Robberies,” Chris admitted. “Young and foolish – I’d only been married six weeks. [It was] banks and stuff like that…”
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“1985 got done for attempted robbery and got six and a half years in prison,” Chris explained in pre-recorded footage. “Prison taught me good times, bad times – either way, you survive. Life’s for living.”
The Island with Bear Grylls continues Monday at 9:00pm on Channel 4
