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Tom Christopher’s Good Morning Britain interview descended into chaos as he discussed his Pen y Fan bath stunt, fines, death threats and David Attenborough
Tom Christopher carried a bathtub up a mountain in Wales and left it there(Image: ITV)
Welsh influencer Tom Christopher’s appearance on Good Morning Britain descended into one of the most chaotic interviews the programme has seen as he discussed the fallout from his infamous Pen y Fan bathtub stunt.
The 25-year-old content creator, who sparked outrage after carrying a bath to the summit of Wales’ highest peak before leaving it there, opened up about facing a potential £5,000 fly-tipping fine, death threats, and even found himself being told by Kate Garraway to “put some clothes on” after appearing topless live on breakfast television.
Christopher had become an internet sensation after hauling a plastic bathtub to the top of the 886m (2,907ft) mountain in an attempt to claim the record for the world’s highest bath.
After enjoying a soak at the summit, he left the bath in place for what he said was meant to be just 48 hours so others could take photographs with it.
Instead, Cardiff Rugby academy players, who had been volunteering with National Trust rangers carrying out conservation work on Pen y Fan during pre-season, discovered the tub and carried it back down the mountain themselves, branding whoever had left it there “mindless”.
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday, Christopher insisted he had never intended to abandon the bath permanently.
Asked by Richard Madeley why he had done it, he replied: “To make a world record. That’s what I do.”
He explained the stunt had been a spontaneous idea.
“It was the middle of the day and I was thinking, ‘What can I do?’ I thought, ‘Let’s try and have a world record.’ Then I thought, ‘I know, let’s have the world’s highest bath.'”
The interview quickly veered into bizarre territory before the discussion had even begun, with Garraway asking the obvious question.
“Why are you basically naked on breakfast television? Why are you topless, Tom?”
Christopher replied simply: “I just don’t like wearing clothes. I like just being free.”
Madeley joked that viewers may have assumed he “couldn’t afford a T-shirt” because he had to pay his fine, while Garraway later returned to the subject, telling him: “Put some clothes on, first of all.”
Christopher then explained the extraordinary lengths he went to in order to make the stunt happen.
The bath itself weighed around 40kg and took him three hours to carry up the mountain. The full challenge, including transporting water, lasted seven hours.
Unable to carry enough water himself, he left signs at the bottom of Pen y Fan asking walkers to help.
“I put bottles there and another sign saying if you’ve just come down the mountain, please leave your bottles there for people to use and take up.
“The signs were saying, ‘Please help me fill this bath.’
“People were helping out and I was down there saying, ‘Could you please help me take water up?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah!'”
When challenged by Madeley over leaving the bath behind, Christopher admitted that had been his biggest mistake.
“I was planning on taking it down,” he insisted. “There were about 30 people up there and they loved it. They were saying, ‘Leave it up here so we can have photos with it.’
“I thought, ‘OK, I’ll leave it up there for 48 hours and then I’ll make another world record by taking it down.'”
Christopher revealed he only discovered the bath had disappeared after ringing the National Park himself.
“When I found out about it on the Monday I phoned them and said, ‘I’ve left my bath and I can’t find it.’
“They said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got it. We’ve taken it down.'”
He then unexpectedly paused to thank those responsible.
“They had a rugby team helping them. Thank you to the rugby boys if you’re watching.”
The “rugby boys” were Cardiff Rugby academy players, who had removed the bath while volunteering with National Trust rangers.
Christopher confirmed National Trust staff later crushed the bath, leaving him with an immediate £400 bill.
“There was the first fee for getting rid of it,” he explained. “Now there’s the fly-tipping fee, which is going to cost a bomb.”
He says he is now facing a further fine of up to £5,000 after the incident was reported as alleged fly-tipping.
Despite the controversy, Christopher suggested he should instead be allowed to make amends.
When Garraway asked whether he had been “a bit of a twit”, Christopher agreed he should have handled things differently.
“My main mistake was leaving it up there. I should have taken it down.
“I should maybe have had a sign saying, ‘I’m going to take it down. Please don’t touch.'”
Madeley admitted the interview had completely changed his opinion.
“I have to say when I first read about this story, I thought you were a bit of an idiot and you’d asked for trouble.
“I thought you were lazy leaving it up there.
“But now you’ve explained the situation, my instinct is we should show leniency.”
Garraway agreed, telling Christopher: “You were crackers because it’s caused problems, but you didn’t mean to cause a problem.”
Christopher also revealed the darker side of the viral attention.
“I’ve had hundreds, thousands of comments calling me an idiot and stupid. I’ve even had death threats.
“Someone said they’re going to drown me if I ever have a bath again.”
While the presenters agreed that was “too much”, Christopher admitted he deserved criticism for leaving the bath behind, adding: “Looking back, I did the wrong thing and I’m the villain of the story.
“But the message is: don’t fly-tip.
“Everyone is sticking up for the national parks. It shows I was in the wrong.”
The interview somehow became even more surreal when Madeley asked Christopher what he did for a living.
“I used to be a builder,” he replied, “but now I’m a professional bath putter-upper.”
Christopher said his latest achievement would officially be “the highest bath put on a mountain peak by someone with nine fingers”.
That prompted Madeley to ask what had happened to the missing fingertip.
Christopher explained: “A squirrel took it.”
He claimed he was walking a dog when a squirrel jumped at him, clamped onto his finger and bit off the tip after he tried to shake it free.
Garraway could only respond: “This is extraordinary. You need a channel of your own.”
Christopher later revealed he had suggested to National Trust officials that, instead of fining him thousands of pounds, he would happily spend time picking up litter.
“I’d love to,” he said. “I’ve actually done a little bit this weekend.”
In another unexpected twist, he claimed he had found “a meal in the bushes” while litter-picking.
“And I ate it,” he added. “Free meal.”
As the interview came to an end, Christopher squeezed in one final moment of chaos.
“Can I give one shout-out?”
Given permission, he looked straight down the camera and said: “Shout out David Attenborough. I love you. I hope you’re watching.
“If you are watching, I’m so sorry. You’re my idol.”
