Freeze The Fear With Wom Hof | Interview with Patrice Evra

Patrice Evra is a French football coach and former professional player.  Originally a forward, he primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. 

​​Had you encountered Wim Hof prior to doing the show?

I’ll be honest: I had never heard about Wim, not even his breathing methods.  But my manager persuaded me when he said: “Patrice, you will have the chance to spend three weeks with these guys in Northern Italy, you’re crazy!” so I said “OK, let’s do it!”

As a coach and former international football player from France, how did you cope with the cold environment?

As a former international football player, I always hated the cold.  I’ve always hated ice baths even if there were good benefits – you know, when you have a knot or after an intense training session, but I am someone who was always against the cold.

How did Wim gain your confidence?

I think Wim gained my confidence the first time we saw each other, when he came out of nowhere in the snow in just his shorts and was screaming before the first challenge.  I asked him to do something like ten press-ups with me before I jumped into that frozen lake and I remember when we did the one-on-one chats, he was like “you were ready for the challenge and I love your energy, you’re so powerful and scared of nothing, so we are going to change the world together.”  So the very first time I saw Wim, I think he told me I had already gained his confidence. 

Which part of the experience did you find the hardest? Or were there things you thought you’d find difficult but didn’t?

The part of the experience that I found the hardest was being away from my woman, Margaux and my baby Lilas, I’ll be honest with you.  But also the hardest part was for me was to say no to a challenge. 

What surprised you most doing Wim Hof’s challenges? Did you learn anything about yourself?

What surprised me the most during the Wim Hof challenges is… nothing.  What did I learn about myself?  I am officially a good crazy guy: there is one challenge, and you will see during the episode that even though I smashed it and stayed more than sixteen minutes in a frozen lake, I still didn’t like myself, or the reflection of myself, because it was someone who didn’t have any limits, but you need to see the show and you will understand what I mean.  I was thinking I would struggle more with the cold, but I just prepared my mindset as a challenge, as a warrior.  Then to be honest the most difficult was to let it go, not to do a challenge.

Which of the celebs did you bond with most during the experience?

Most of them. I think it is difficult to pick one – we were like a team, we experienced overcoming our fears together. We shared something nice. I think some people sometimes fake it, but this was real – and of course I will maybe say Tamzin – yes, Tam, because I call her my sister and we were making jokes and she is really funny. But it was also the same with Gabby, and with Chelcee, with Owain. I would say the participant who really impressed me the most was Owain for sure. 100%. 

Which, if any, parts of this experience will you take forward with you in everyday life?

I think I need to take part. I mean sometimes I need to take care of myself instead of taking care of everybody else, that is what I learned from this experience.

Any funny anecdotes from filming?

There are so many funny anecdotes. The big one was – wow! You’ll have to see for yourselves!  You’re going to have a lot of surprises, trust me. I think the Silent Game was crazy!  I think you are all going to laugh a lot guys!