British bush survivor says he's an idiot, not a hoaxer

A British teenager who survived 12 nights in the Australian bush described himself as a "total idiot" yesterday and denied faking his ordeal, saying he feared starving to death in the wilderness.

Jamie Neale returned to the hiking trail where he became lost in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, to recount his ordeal for a television current affairs show which reportedly paid him $200,000. The 19-year-old said he had underestimated the distance and difficulty of the Australian terrain. "I admit, I have been a total idiot," he told Channel Nine television. "In the UK, you walk for a day and you end up in a pub but out here you can get lost so easily, you've got to be more prepared and think about what you're doing a lot more."

Mr Neale said his greatest fear had been a lingering death from starvation and he ate wild nuts to sustain himself, even though he was unsure whether they were poisonous.

Battling leeches and freezing temperatures, he told how he prepared for death by writing letters to his family.