My obsession with watching National Geographic impacted on me quite heavily as a child. I fell in love with animals and the wilderness. It wasn’t long before cheetahs became my favourite animal – and remain so to this day.

There’s just something about them… They’re sleek, fast and deadly. But also curious and absolutely beautiful creatures. But unlike other big cats, I also find them to have a big soft side – almost like you could have them as a pet and they’d love you.

It was only natural for me to want to see my favourite animal in its natural habitat. I’d seem them at the zoo, but that only made me upset. I needed to witness them in full flight.

Years later I found myself on safari in Africa, and one of the stops was in the Maasai Mara. It’s beauty left me speechless. Long, rolling plains with lush grass as far as the eye could see. Occasionally you’d see a tree in the distance, providing shade for a wandering herd. Suddenly a voice came through our guide’s radio and the next thing I knew we were speeding along the vast open Kenyan countryside.

We pulled up not far away from another jeep where a cheetah family was happily playing. The mother sat patiently while the three almost fully-grown cubs were in the middle of an intense game of tag. They were racing around our cars trying to catch each other, when one of them jumped onto the other car at the scene. I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing. It was like being in my own National Geographic special. Or at least I thought it was, until one of them jumped onto the bonnet of our car. And now I really was in my own special…

It was one of the most incredible moments in my life, even now. Nothing compares to standing in a jeep with an open roof while a wild cheetah sniffs around not even a metre away from your face. They were even more stunning in real life than I had ever imagined. I had goosebumps all over. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.