Levison Wood has been dubbed Britain’s most eligible bachelor thanks to his rugged good looks and on-screen charm. However, aged 41, he has never been married.
Although the former army officer seems content with his adventurous lifestyle, this doesn’t stop onlookers from offering their advice on how to find love, even if it’s unsolicited.
In a new interview ahead of his latest Channel 4 series, Levison Wood: Walking With, he recalled a surprising critique from the Himba tribe in Namibia, southern Africa.
He told The Sun: “They have this test for men, a sort of coming-of-age ceremony when they are 12, where they get their bottom two front teeth knocked out with a brick.
“I’ve obviously still got my teeth, and they were taking the p*** out of me, saying, ‘You’re never going to find a wife and get married if you’ve got those teeth’.”
Although he says he’d “love to have a family one day”, he is in no rush to settle down.
Levison went on: “I don’t think there is any need to follow convention and settle down at all.
“Sod that, I’m more up for continuing the adventures, no matter what.”
Levison has teetered with the idea of marriage for some years, previously declaring that he would go on a “wife hunt”.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2018, the best-selling author said: “I don’t have a significant other – my lifestyle’s not conducive to a conventional relationship – but after my next big trip next year, I think I’ll go on a wife hunt.”
On what kind of woman it would take to get him down the aisle, Levison says he “doesn’t have a type” but she would need to exhibit certain characteristics.
“I don’t like to put people into boxes. If a woman is intelligent, interesting, fun. That is the basis, really.
“I don’t really care what job they do or anything like that. It is all about being comfortable in somebody’s company and enjoying spending time with them,” he told Daily Mail in 2021.
Levison Wood: Walking with Orangutans airs tonight at 8pm on Channel 4.
