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‘I should be in a box’, Meet TV presenter and Royal Marines veteran JJ Chalmers

In this series of podcasts, Charlotte Nichols, managing director of PR agency Harvey & Hugo, gets up close and PRsonal with a variety of well-known business faces. Nothing is off limits as she digs deep to get to know the person behind the professional…

In this episode…

JJ Chalmers admits he should be dead.

Having joined the Royal Marines aged just 17, he suffered life-changing injuries in a 2011 bomb blast while serving in Afghanistan.

JJ recalls the fateful moment an IED blew his body to bits in the Helmand Provence – and tragically claimed the lives of his brothers in arms.

Incredibly he lived to tell the tale and has since become a TV presenter, father – and a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

However, in this highly emotional episode of PRsonal, he describes in graphic detail the shocking moment his life changed forever – but also how it led to the Paralympics, the Invictus Games and a ‘bromance’ with Prince Harry.

Key moments:

• 00:00:07 | Introduction and podcast rules
• 00:00:40 | Does JJ feel lucky or unlucky after being bombed in Afghanistan?’
• 00:02:25 | ‘I should be in a box in the ground’
• 00:04:14 | ‘It was just another Friday in a bomb factory’: Recalling the blast
• 00:05:44 | The “graphic” recount of what he looked like after the explosion
• 00:06:36 | The last thing he remembered before going into a coma
• 00:09:09 | ‘My arm was sewn into my stomach’
• 00:18:04 | His one frustration – and how luck kept him here today
• 00:19:09 | Moving on from the point where he couldn’t use his hands
• 00:24:32 | ‘People are afraid of being cancelled if they say the wrong thing’
• 00:27:14 | The aspects of life as a Royal Marine ‘people would pay thousands to try’
• 00:35:12 | The first question he would ask his kids if they wanted to join the military
• 00:37:45 | ‘Daddy has three fingers’: What his kids ask about his disabilities
• 00:41:38 | Striking up a friendship with Prince Harry by the side of a swimming pool
• 00:43:15 | Prince Harry’s vision for Invictus Games – and what is like being friends with royalty
• 00:53:13 | ‘I’ve been to royal weddings, the Queen’s funeral and I’m mates with Chris Hoy – how does that happen?!’
• 00:56:55 | How he’s marked Remembrance Day – including spending it in hospital
• 01:00:15 | How he treasures the ‘small time’ he got to spend with his comrades
• 01:02:59 | Even soldiers don’t want a world filled with war – and how Ukraine has reminded people about human suffering
• 01:11:46 | How good does JJ think he is at sex?
• 01:12:33 | How Harvey & Hugo can help your business unlock the power of podcasting