It is after 11pm and I have just returned home from the Ant Middleton Live and Unscripted Tour. This was my main birthday outing and I have been looking forward to it for months. Its the third time I have attended one of his seminar tours and I find them so interesting and inspiring. Tonight was no different.
It was a cold evening, so I got all bundled up in my long pink faux fur coat and headed into the city centre. Once sitting in the theatre with a cosy drink, I settled back and waited for Ant to come along and work his SAS magic on me. As usual the audience was mostly male, with lots of ex-military men who always shout out in response to Ant's questions such as 'Do we have any Marines in tonight? Any Para's?' and so on. It is generally clear that the bulk of Ant's audience is always men from the armed forces, and I do feel a little out of place, but I like the seminars so much, that its not enough to put me off. And if you're going to be surrounded by men, I'd much rather they were the highly disciplined sort! The man sitting next to me was called Greg and he had served in the Royal Marines. I got talking to him in the interval and he seemed like a nice chap. He was very attentive to me and my mother, making sure that we could see okay because we are petite and discussing Ant's books with me. I love a man who can talk books! So that was nice.
Ant was his usual opinionated self, warning people at the outset that there is nothing WOKE or politically correct about his shows. He often just says what a lot of us are thinking - like why is the British flag suddenly being taken down by police for 'inciting violence' and yet our soldiers are still expected to die violently for it? And why isn't the safety of British women and girls being taken more seriously by our own government? That said, this was not a political rally of any kind. It was simply a seminar where Ant spoke about his adventures as an explorer, mountaineer and soldier.
I really enjoy hearing his stories, especially the military ones. He is an interesting speaker and his interactions with the audience can spiral into the hilarious at times. On this tour he did mini bootcamps, where he invited volunteers up on stage with him and proceeded to train them in the art of the perfect push up. Needless to say, I did not volunteer - I can't do any kind of push up, let alone a perfect one! I'd like to say its because my wrists are still weak, but the truth is I have never been able to do a single push up and its one of the things my Scots boys used to laugh at me for! The next task was even harder and Ant put volunteers into pairs and told them to stand back to back and link arms. Then they had to sit down and stand up on command, keeping their arms linked! It was very funny, as people struggled to get off the ground or fell over completely!
I also enjoyed hearing about his plans to climb Mount Everest for the second time. He's going to do that next spring apparently. The phrase 'glutton for punishment' does spring to mind when he talks of all the risky things he's done and plans to do, but I guess he's just one of those people who need to push themselves constantly to be happy. Its not a lifestyle I would enjoy though - I'm far too bookish!
The main thing I go to Ant's shows for is his motivational mentorship and good humour. After the tough couple of years I've had with the accident last spring and then all the flashbacks of the hospital this year, I really needed a decent pep talk to get me feeling motivated and optimistic again and Ant Middleton has provided that in spades for me tonight. Its the reason I buy his tickets and books - because I know that they will act as a bit of a spring clean for my mind. He makes me feel like I can do practically anything if I put my mind to it - except climb Everest! I'll leave that to the experts.
It has been a lovely seminar and I have enjoyed Ant's stories and banter. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad I chose this as my main birthday outing. I went to see Wicked For Good on my birthday (it was brilliant!), but tonight was the main event and I enjoyed it so much. Sadly there were no books or programmes on sale this time, but I have all his military self-help books so I'll probably re-read one of those.
Ant Middleton's Live and Unscripted Tour is running until January 2026, so you might still be able to get tickets if you'd like to see him. Or you could always watch one of his TV shows. I liked Channel 4's Mutiny the best, where he recreates the sea voyage of Captain Bligh from Mutiny on the Bounty. Then of course there are all his excellent self-help books, so even if you can't get to the tour, you can still enjoy Ant's motivational work.
I certainly had fun tonight. It was a lovely end to a prolonged birthday weekend and now I'm looking forward to the festive season!
Blessed be
Marie x
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