Dwayne Fields (born October 1982) is a Jamaican-born British television entertainer, presenter and speaker. He travelled to the

Magnetic North Pole The north magnetic pole, also known as the magnetic north pole, is a point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downward (in other words, if a magnetic compass needle is allowed t ...

. The Scout Association appointed Fields to be its Chief Scout in 2024.

Early life

Fields was born in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

in 1982 and, from the age of six, grew up in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

, north London. He says that in his early life, he witnessed violent crime. He holds a degree in Psychology and Business Management from

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

Career

Fields says that he was inspired to visit the North Pole after watching a

breakfast television Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

article about

Ben Fogle Benjamin Myer Fogle (born 3 November 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer and adventurer, best known for his presenting roles with British television channels Channel 5, BBC and ITV. Early life Fogle is the son of English actress Julia ...

and James Cracknell looking for a third member to assist in their expedition of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. Though he was too late to apply, his enthusiasm for the project was noted and he was asked to recreate the 1908–1909 expedition by

Robert Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was long credited as being ...

and

Matthew Henson Matthew Alexander Henson (August 8, 1866March 9, 1955) was an African American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on seven voyages to the Arctic over a period of nearly 23 years. They spent a total of 18 years on expeditions together.

, which reached what was believed at the time to be the

Geographic North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

. Fields has appeared as a guest on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's '' Countryfile'' and '' Springwatch'' with

Chris Packham Christopher Gary Packham CBE (born 4 May 1961) is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author, best known for his television work including the CBBC children's nature series '' The Really Wild Show'' from 1986 t ...

. On his ''Countryfile'' appearance, he said that he believed that some

Black British people Black British people or Black Britons"Black Briton, N." ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford UP. December 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1136579918. are a multi-ethnic group of British people of Sub-Saharan African or Afro-Caribbean descen ...

do not regard the countryside as "somewhere that's for them" and undertook his North Pole expedition to show that things are not necessarily impossible to achieve. He was one of the participant presenters on the series ''Welcome to Earth'', and is currently presenting his own series, '' 7 Toughest Days'', with

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

and

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. He co-founded the WeTwo Foundation, which provides adventure opportunities for underprivileged young people; their inaugural trip to Antarctica was in November 2022. Fields was named an ambassador for

The Scout Association The Scout Association is the largest organisation in the Scout Movement in the Scouting in the United Kingdom, United Kingdom. Following the rapid development of the Scouting, Scout Movement from 1907, The Scout Association was formed in 1910 ...

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

, and on 5 September 2024, The Scout Association appointed him to be its Chief Scout. On Tuesday the 23rd July 2024, Fields was made Honorary Colonel and corps ambassador to HM Royal Marines alongside Olympian

Victoria Pendleton Victoria Louise Pendleton (born 24 September 1980) is a British former Track cycling, track cyclist who specialised in the Sprint (cycling), sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Cycling at the Summer Olympics, Olympic, Wo ...

. In 2025, he co presented a search for the source of the nile with Ben Fogle on 5.

Awards

Fields was awarded the

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Dwayne Alumni of the University of East London Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people British polar explorers British people of Jamaican descent Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom Living people People from Saint Catherine Parish People from Stoke Newington Year of birth missing (living people) Chief Scouts (The Scout Association)