A young man with type 1 diabetes has set out to prove the condition doesn’t have to hold you back by signing up to a TV game show which involves extreme sports and physical activities.

Andrew White, of Howard Gate in Letchworth, is a contestant on E4’s Coach Trip: Road to Ibiza – a reality game show which sees seven teams undertake a coach tour of Europe, completing different tasks daily.

Passengers remain on the six-week tour until they are voted off by fellow teams, and replaced by a new team the following day, with the winners given a holiday to Ibiza.

Tasks Andrew completed along the way included white water rafting, jet skiing and kayaking, with the teams filmed for 20 hours a day, six days a week.

Having type 1 diabetes means Andrew’s pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin to control his blood sugar level and he consequently has to take six blood tests a day and regularly inject himself with insulin.

The 25-year-old said he took part in Coach Trip: Road to Ibiza because he wanted to demonstrate that people with diabetes don’t have to let it affect their lives.

Andrew said: “It disappoints me when children with diabetes say they can’t do certain things, or when their parents say they can’t. Anybody with diabetes can do anything. If you manage it, diabetes won’t affect you. If you don’t manage it, that’s when you will have a problem.” There was one moment during the trip when Andrew thought he was in trouble. A boat trip he thought would take half-an-hour lasted two hours and his blood sugar level dropped. He said: “I had to jump into fast-flowing water to swim to shore and nearly got swept away.”

About the trip, he said: “It was one of the most unique experiences of my life. I will definitely never forget it. It was exhilarating, fun and tiring – I have never been so tired.”

Coach Trip: Road to Ibiza is currently being aired weekdays at 7.30pm on E4. Andrew will make his first appearance on Monday, August 15.