by Joe Jeffrey
Ray Mears expresses his dislike of caravans and caravanners during Room 101 rant
With less than a month to go before the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show 2015, special guest speaker Ray Mears has hit out in a scathing attack on the caravanning community.
Appearing on BBC One show, Room 101, where celebrities compete to have their pet hates banished forever, Mears, 50, nominated the caravan as his number one peeve.
On the subject of caravans, the bushtrail and survivalist expert said: “I just think they’re hideous. Huge swathes of our coastline are just covered in these things.”
Describing caravans as something akin to “mobile breadbins”, Mears went on: “I wouldn’t mind so much if they could be painted green, but they have to be painted white.
“You go down to Devon and all you can see are cities of these displaced urban people in their ghastly white caravans.”
Ironically enough, Mears also chose to send “fakes” to Room 101, stating: “I can’t stand fakes of any description.
“I like reality, and the world seems to be increasingly full of make-believe fakery and I think we should be aware.”
Hmmm. so let’s get this straight; Mears can’t stand fakery of any kind, but is more than happy to stand in front of a sea of caravanners whilst talking about the virtues of this popular pastime, having previously expressed a strong dislike for them? Pot, kettle Ray?
In light of Mears’ comments, show organisers, the National Caravan Council (NCC) exclusively told CaravanTimes: “We were planning promotional activity at the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show using Ray Mears and we were disappointed to hear his recent comments made on television about caravans.
“Consequently the activity with Ray is under review. Having said that we would like to extend an open invitation for Ray to take a holiday in a caravan which will show him what a fantastic experience it actually is and how it enables millions of people to enjoy the great outdoors.”
If the NCC does decide to allow Mears to remain as special guest speaker at the show, we can’t help but feel as though the outspoken toff may need to bring the best of his survival skills to the stage in order to fend off the swathe of angry “urban people” in attendance. Isn’t that worth the admission price alone? If so, get your tickets here now!
CaravanTimes has reached out to Mears for comment and we’ll be sure to update you, should he decide to come down from his tree house anytime soon.
