“It took me the entire first day to realise how far away we were from anything,” said Carmarthenshire TikTok star David ‘Dai’ Davison about his stint on the second series of Channel 4 ’s The Bridge, which is currently airing. The 36-year-old lorry driver from South Wales who had previously described himself as a "Karl Pilkington-type character, moaning about most things in life," slowly realised his experience on the Vietnam-set challenge show was almost certainly going to be very different to his day-to-day in Llanelli - and he was ready to cause a stir with his opinionated nature, which his fellow teammates describe as "savage."
In the eight-part series, which returned last week, June 7 to be exact, 16 strangers compete for the chance to win £200,000. The group will have to face the ultimate test of physical ability, mental skill and teamwork in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. Going head-to-head, two teams have to build a bridge over 1,000 feet of water in just 12 days to reach the cash which lies below a tower on an island between both beaches. But only one person from the winning team can take home the huge amount of money.
Read more: Channel 4's The Bridge line-up sees two Welsh contestants join reality show
For David, who has been entertaining on TikTok for the past few years with his TomJonesWales account where he posts hilariously Welsh observations about life, there was only one reason and one only that he wanted to take part in the show. "The prize money was huge," he told WalesOnline: “It was also advertised as an ‘exotic location’. I didn't know where I was going until I got to Heathrow Airport and when I was told Vietnam, I thought it was in South America at first." David, 36, who also stressed that he was “glad it wasn’t Love Island or [he’d have] stuck out like a sausage at a vegetarian disco with [his] beer belly.”
And prior to appearing on The Bridge, David thought that his opinionated nature and inability to think before he speaks would get him into trouble. At one point in the series, David's attitude is even described as "savage" by his other teammates. “I caused a bit of a stir out there but at least I can say that I was myself,” he said as he summed up the experience of filming The Bridge. In one scene in the series, the Welsh TikToker complains to Keira that "there's people trying to make a f***ing cuppa tea for two hours whilst I'm slaving out here," as he became frustrated that the rest of his team were not working as hard as him.
It was a 'strange' experience he recounted, adding: "Cameras in my face 24/7 and a microphone on at all times, food was rationed, I didn't sleep the entire time and it was like being in a pressure cooker at some points.”
The filming could sometimes be 20-hour days in the boiling heat so tempers must have frayed? But he shied away from revealing too much, adding: "Our team did very well, I can't reveal too much obviously but I was proud of them all.
David, who has more than 238,000 followers on TikTok, isn't the only Welsh contestant on this year’s series of The Bridge. He is joined by North Walian, Keira, who had her left arm amputated when she was 21. Of working with her, he said: “Being with Keira was amazing. "She was one of the strongest people there and the one I was closest with.”
He added that he “wasn't sure what to think of North Walians” but after meeting 24-year-old Keira, he was pleasantly surprised. “I kind of had to get on with her or she would of just spinning heel kicked me in the face,” he joked.
You can find out how the Llanelli-born lorry driver does as all the episodes can now be streamed on All4, but if you are watching it live and weekly on Channel 4, you won't find spoilers here. But if he won the money, David said he would “enjoy it with family and friends and treat [his] daughter to whatever she wants. And , I'd also like to go see Wales in the World Cup, live."
All episodes of The Bridge: Race to a Fortune: Series 2 are now available to watch on All4. It also airs weekly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on Channel 4.
