After becoming a national fashion icon with his snug waistcoats, Gareth Southgate has decided to take his signature look on tour – on an adventure mission with Bear Grylls.

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In a sneak peek of upcoming episode Bear’s Mission with Gareth Southgate, the England manager flaunts what looks remarkably like a green camouflage version of his wardrobe favourite, albeit with a bit of extra padding.

In fact, some might call it a light gilet or sleeveless jumper. But they’d be mistaken: this is Gareth Southgate, so it’s definitely a waistcoat, okay?

Let us have this one.

Whatever you think, Southgate does consider it a waistcoat. As he shows off his sartorial choice to Grylls in the clip, Southgate remembers the first time he decided to put on the iconic item of clothing

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“I put the waistcoat on and I said to my son, ‘Do you think I can get away with wearing this?’" he recalls. "He said, ‘Yeah, it’ll be fine. Nobody will notice!’”

Watch the trailer below.

Fortunately, there’s not a lot of chance people will notice the Three Lions leader’s clothing this time with all the action he’ll be up to. During his trip to the wilds of Dartmoor – the rugged terrain used by the Royal Marine Commandos for their gruelling training missions – Southgate will jump out of a helicopter, hang on a high wire 90 foot above a rocky gorge and take on a front-facing abseil down a cliff.

He'll even find enough time for an impromptu penalty shoot-out will Grylls and enjoy a heart-to-heart about the lowest point in his life: his penalty miss in the Euro ‘96 finals.

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Bear’s Mission with Gareth Southgate airs on ITV at 9pm on Thursday 20 December


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