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MONDAYS AT 21.00 FROM 25 NOVEMBER CONTENTS

SERIES INFORMATION BIOGRAPHIES INTERVIEWS EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS After years of competing as rivals, the four strongest men in the world are teaming up to find out the truth behind some of history’s greatest tales of strength.

In the new HISTORY® series, British strongman (Deadlift world record holder), (4-Time World’s Strongest Man Champion), Nick Best (‘Grandfather’ of Strongman, Shield Carry world record holder) and Robert Oberst (World’s Strongest Man Finalist 2013 & 2018) travel the world investigating strongman legends and taking on epic feats of strength in a quest to prove who really is The Strongest Man in History.

In each episode, the four strongmen take on three strength challenges from history and try to beat the legend—and each other. They separate fact from fiction–replicating legendary lifts to determine what they actually weighed, while competing to see who among them is the strongest. Their journey takes them across America, England and Scotland.

“I remember sitting there one day, and I just decided I want to be , so I got up off my ass and went to the gym. I started lifting weights and I felt better”. – Eddie Hall (pictured)

3 Hometown: Newcastle-under-Lyme, , England

Eddie Hall (a.k.a. “The Beast”) hails from the UK. He’s the only man in history to ever deadlift half a ton. (He holds the world record at 1,102 Pounds). The 2017 World’s Strongest Man winner, Eddie has a notable rivalry with fellow strongman Robert Oberst—and will do whatever it takes to show him up.

4 Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada

Nick Best hails from Las Vegas, Nevada and has been competing as a Strongman for over ten more than 10 years. He is known as the “grandfather” of Strongman. As one of the sport’s oldest competitors, what he may lack in youth, he makes up for with wisdom and experience. As the elder statesmen of the group, Nick has a very strong passion for history. Nick was the Powerlifting champion of the world in the late 1990s, and he also owns the world’s record in the Shield Carry.

5 Hometown: Fort Lupton, Colorado

Brian Shaw is a 4-time World’s Strongest Man champion (!) and the undisputed best in the game. Some even claim that Shaw might be the strongest man to have ever lived. At 6’8” and 445 Pounds, Brian is also massively interested in the history of his sport. TV show or no TV show, he is genuinely fascinated by the stories of strong men who came before him.

6 Hometown: Santa Cruz, California

Robert Oberst and his iconic beard began their Strongman careers after trying their hands at a few other things, including a brief flirtation with the NFL and working as a bouncer for a nightclub. It was there that a fellow bouncer encouraged him to train and take part in Strongman events. Robert has “the strongest shoulders in the world” and is the holder of the American record in the Log Lift. He’s also known for his phenomenal appetite!

7 QUESTION TIME WITH THE STRONG MEN

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A STRONGMAN? WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO KEEP PUSHING YOURSELF TO GET STRONGER? Nick Best (50 years old, from Las Vegas, Nevada): I went to a contest with my son Eddie: I think the motivation for me was to always be the best. I set the task Dylan in 2003 and he looked up at me and said, “Dad you are strong, you should do to become the world's strongest man at 19 and I suppose it's that inner me this!” So I did. not letting me let myself down, not letting my family down and not letting my kids down. I think my main motivator was knowing that, when my kids Eddie Hall (31 years old, from the United Kingdom): At the age of 13, I fell on hard grow up, they would be able to say that the house, the cars, everything is times. Quite a number of things happened to me in my life, but I ended up in a deep from my dad and it was from his hard work and becoming the world's depression, and seeing a psychiatrist for a couple of years. I ended up with a poster strongest man. of Arnold Schwarzenegger on my wall in my bedroom. I remember sitting there one day, and I just decided I want to be Arnold Schwarzenegger, so I got up off my ass Robert: It's got to come from within. I have a three-year-old son who, at and went to the gym. I started lifting weights and I felt better. I got a sense of this point, is 99% of my motivation for everything. Every time I'm doing euphoria, and I just carried it on. I kept getting better and better and better. At age anything, I'm thinking, "He's going to see this when he gets older. I want 19, I ended up entering a strongman contest because I became quite obsessed with him to know that daddy could put it down if he needed to." lifting weights. On that date, I said publicly on my Facebook and told everybody I was going to win the World's Strongest Man. Brian: My motivation is being the best. Pretty simple and straightforward. Robert Oberst (34 years old, from Santa Cruz, California): I played football for a long time and then football used me up, spit me out and I was done. I was [working as a bouncer] at a pretty rough bar, and a buddy of mine that worked there was just WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF ABOUT YOUR obsessed with Strongman. He kept talking about it and talking about it, and then CAREER AS A STRONGMAN? finally he talked me into coming one day. I had to google Strongman. I didn't know what it was. The first time I ever did it, I broke the amateur world record for log press. I threw it down and I looked up at him, and I was like, "Was that any good?" Robert: When I first broke the log press record. I was competing in He was so mad. Within six months, I was competing in England and soon, I was Australia, and Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up. The log press record was held by a friend of mine who had passed away. So, Arnold's standing like competing at my first World’s Strongest Man. I was the only rookie to make the four feet away watching me. Brian goes up, Brian can't claim the log. Eddie finals, too. All within eight months. goes up, Eddie can't claim the log. Three other guys go up, nobody can handle this log. I walked out there... I knew this was my shot, I had to take Brian Shaw: (37 years old, from Colorado, USA): I finished playing college basketball this for my buddy, Mike. I remember that I threw it up, and it felt so easy. I and I needed a competitive outlet, so I wanted to be a strength coach. I always just held it up over my head and I looked around. I made eye contact with loved lifting and training and competing. I watched World's Strongest Man growing Arnold, threw the thing down and just lost it. Just roared as loud as I could. up on TV and I just loved all of that, so I decided to enter a Strongman contest—just It was one of the best moments of my life. for fun. Really. For no other reason than that I just wanted to compete in something 8 and push myself. I ended up loving it from the get-go and also found that I was very gifted. It was just kind of a natural fit for me, and just took off from there. QUESTION TIME WITH THE STRONG MEN

WHAT ROLE DO YOU THINK THE STRONGMAN PLAYS IN WHAT’S ONE FEAT OF STRENGTH YOU’D LOVE TO TRY HISTORY? BEFORE YOU RETIRE? Nick: Pulling a train engine. Robert: Well, the history of strength in itself is awesome to me. You look back at the Scots, who weren't allowed to have weapons, so they would train with stones and sticks. Clans would just gather around to see who was the strongest, and there was Eddie: I attempted the world record log press at my last-ever competition, but I attempted it with a snapped ankle. I suppose I had set my heart on no way that the British could take that from them—even though they took their that being my last ever lift in the sport. I didn't achieve it, so I think my only weapons, they took their women, they took their land. You can go further back, and regret since retirement is not going back and doing that world-record log there's a bunch of crazy stories about guys lifting rocks and stuff like that and it's press. I was capable, but the circumstances wouldn't let it happen. just... Strength is something that has captivated people since the very beginning. Socrates said that no man should ever grow old not having known the full strength and power of his own body. Robert: I want to win World's Strongest Man.

Brian: There are a lot of cultures where tests of strength determined manhood. If Brian: Lifting a 600-pound Atlas Stone is something I really had my sights you couldn't lift a “manhood stone,” you weren't considered a man. I've always set on. I have been capable of doing it for a really long time, but that's one been fascinated by different feats of strength throughout history. that I just haven't had the opportunity to do in a competition. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN’T A STRONGMAN? WHAT ARE THE WORST INJURIES YOU HAVE EVER Nick: Selling beer! HAD? Nick: Eight compression fractures on my spine, an inguinal hernia, two Eddie: I used to be a national champion swimmer. I was 11 years old when I entered bicep tears, a folded artery in my wrist, a torn calf, a torn pectoral and two my first Nationals. I won every distance in front crawl, set British records in 50- torn rotator cuffs. meters and 400-meters freestyle and was entered into the World Class Potential squad, which is like the Junior Olympic team in Britain. Then, at 13 years of age I Eddie: I think one of the best injuries I ever had was when I was 20 years was chucked off the swimming squad because I fell out with the head coach. There's old. I don't know if you’ll be able to use this or not, but I was putting no doubt in my mind that I'd have been a swimmer. weights on a weight press, and you always slam metal weights together to make a nice sound. So I slam these plates together and I trap my [penis] in Robert: Stripper. Easy. Stripper. Private eye during the day, stripper at night? between the plates and actually had a huge gash on it. Robert: I almost lost my career. I ripped my bicep in half and the doctor 9 QUESTION TIME WITH THE STRONG MEN

Eddie: We've travelled a lot of the states, and a little bit of Europe, and we learned about historic strongmen and their legacies. We learned about some characters, Robert: I almost lost my career. I ripped my bicep in half and the doctor told me I like Paul Anderson. I suppose that has made me realize the importance of legacy. was all done—that I had to stop competing. I got hurt in Africa. I remember sitting He was able to give his family an amazing life off the back of lifting weights, and so out by this river in Africa, just like bawling my eyes out, thinking I missed my were a lot of the other guys. And, so am I. It makes me realize that, in the future, opportunity. I fell all the way back down and fought my way back. It took me like people may well be doing a TV show on the likes of me. It's made me improve my three years, but I finally—this last year–I got back in the finals, proved that I was self-decorum in that way. I want to make sure I'm looked back as a hero, a nice back and earned my way back up to the top. guy and as a family man that inspired millions.

Brian: The worst one that I've ever had is when I detached my bicep in 2012. I was Robert: I didn't know who Thomas Topham was, and he’s one of my heroes now. doing an Axle Clean—lifting a big train axle—and, just picking it up, I just tore [it] off. The guy owned a brewery and was like a prankster. He was like one of us back in the day, just messing around and strong as hell. He was trying to get people to his bar so he could make enough money to pay rent. I have so much more respect for this sport, the history of strength and, specifically, for these men just because of DID THE SHOW CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT HOW YOU VIEWED the show. It's also given me motivation because we carry the weight of these YOUR PROGESSION? WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF names now, and I don't take that lightly. MAKING THE SHOW?

Nick: My favourite part was getting to bring the strongman from the past back to life and do their events with my friends! Learning the history of some of these men and how they lived just made me love the sport that much more!

10 EPISODE GUIDE EP1 - STRONGER THAN A VIKING EP2 – STRONGER THAN A RUSSIAN EP3 – ONE TONNE LIFT EP4 – STRONGEST GO WEST 25 NOVEMBER AT 21.00 2 DECEMBER AT 21.00 9 DECEMBER AT 21.00 16 DECEMBER AT 21.00 In the bitter cold of In Georgia, the four take The strongmen are in the The strongmen are in Moorhead, Minnesota on the legendary feats of United Kingdom -- home Cody, Wyoming–home of the four strongmen Paul Anderson–the of Eddie Hall and Britain's Buffalo Bill’s Rough struggle to test their Godfather of American original strongman-- Riders–and a strongman strength against Viking strength. Can they Thomas Topham. Nick who performed with legends. Can they lift the perform the dreaded refuses to back down as them named William gigantic 1433 pound mast 2,700 pound carousel hip he and Brian go head-to- Bankier. When a race of of a Viking Warrior--that lift that made Paul head in a dangerous carrying pianos goes broke his back and killed famous on “The Ed barrel lifting competition. wrong, Nick’s life is on the him? Sullivan Show”? line… Download episode here Download episode here Download episode here Download episode here EP5 – STRONGER THAN A SCOTSMAN EP6 – STRONGMEN GO TO VEGAS EP7 – REVOLOUTIONARY STRONGMAN 23 DECEMBER AT 21.00 30 DECEMBER AT 21.00 6 JANUARI AT 21.00 The strongmen take on the Highland The strongmen are in Las Vegas, The strongmen travel to Virginia to Games and attempt a record-breaking Nevada–home of Nick Best, to take take on the feats of strength of the feat that could land them all in the on the greatest showman in American Revolution. It’s the UK Scottish history books. Super- strongman history, Monte Saldo. versus the US as they race to see Heavyweights Robert and Brian go Can they draw a crowd and out-do who can throw a tonne of tea into a head-to-head to settle things once and Saldo’s death defying car stunt? harbour, and carry a cannon off of a for all. Download episode here battlefield. Download episode here Download episode here IF YOU USE ANY MATERIAL FROM THIS PRESS PACK PLEASE INCLUDE A FULL CREDIT FOR THE SHOW.

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