Interview with Ioan Humphreys (WEST SIDE)

6ft 3' Ioan is a big, friendly giant who describes himself as 'the biggest pussycat you'll meet’. He took on the responsibility of running the family farm aged just 20, after his father became ill. He’s married with two young kids. Ioan is terrified of the dark which can make his job hard at times! Has always been in the protective bubble of his family in a very small area; his parents, sisters and grandad all live on the farm’s land.

What made you want to take part in Apocalypse?

I probably just wanted to challenge myself and put myself out of my comfort zone. I'm a farmer from the middle of Wales who sits on my farm and does all my farm stuff, so first off, a city is uncomfortable for me, I don't like being there. An abandoned city is even more so, because I'm doubly lost. So, yeah, just trying to put myself out of my comfort zone and see if I could survive. I wanted to thrive more than survive, so see if I could do that, really. I think that's why I did it.

Is there anything you did to prepare before going in?

No, I did absolutely nothing before going in. Zero preparation. Didn't prepare and just relied on me. Didn't watch any YouTube, didn't watch anything at all. Did absolutely zero prep.

I'm taking from this that some of your skills as a farmer were useful for the survival aspects, like the fishing etc. What were the skills?

I think quite a few of my skills were common sense. Starting a fire is basic knowledge; if you can't start a fire, you're not going to survive. Fishing, I'd never fished before going in there, so I learned that on the job. I didn’t do much tinkering or building and kind of let people who said "I'm really good at that" carry on, and if they failed, then I'd try. I think it was more that I hunted a couple of animals, but that's only because some people wouldn't be comfortable with it, I suppose, but I'm used to that kind of thing.

Take us back to the moment you first arrived in the town. 

I was completely overwhelmed, really. I didn't realise the scale, the size, the destruction, the lack of stuff there. I didn't realise how smashed up everything would be, how run-down and ransacked the buildings would be. My first impression was, oh, this is way worse than I thought it was going to be. It's dark, it's cold, and this place sucks.

Was it a shock to discover you weren't alone, that there was a second group?

I thought when I first saw the second group they were actors, pretty useless actors. But yes, it was such a shock to see someone else on the however-many-acre patch of land.

Did you know at that point there were going to be tensions?

Yes. Well, I think I was the one who instigated the entire tension from day one. So, it was inevitable, wasn't it, limited food and resources, with a lot of people, there’s always going to be competition.

Where was your favourite space or building in Riverside?

I liked where we were living, it was a big, cold warehouse, but I liked it. Everyone was like, oh, it's so cold, but I wasn't that cold, I walked around barefoot a lot of the time in there. I don't think it was that bad, it was just dark; if it hadn't been dark, it would have been lovely. So, I quite liked the laundry, I always wanted to go back there. I also liked sitting in the woods by the lake, on my own. But other than that, my favourite building was the laundry. It became home.

Did you learn anything about yourself being there?

Yeah, that I haven't got very much patience for lazy people, or people who can't be bothered to do stuff. My patience for people is way thinner than it probably should be. I should probably realise not everyone can do the same thing as me at the same time. And maybe I need a bit more communication and talk to people instead of thinking everyone can read my mind.

Has the experience changed the way you think about modern life, or the things we take for granted?

I thought it would, but no, not really, I suppose. I drink more coffee now, probably because we didn't have any there, and I didn't even like coffee before but all the Australians missed it so much that I started drinking more. And I suppose I spend a bit more time with the kids instead of doing work on the farm. What's the point of working forever and missing your children grow up? Maybe that's what I've done differently.

If you live in the city with all the modern comforts, it's more of a shock. I haven't got Uber Eats or Deliveroo, or even Uber taxis. My nearest train station's half an hour away, my closest hospital is over an hour away. I live in the middle of nowhere. We have power cuts all the time.

There was more stuff in the Apocalypse than at my house in Wales, I think.