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He can host hours of live radio and tame a panel of rowdy comedians on Breaking the News, but as of 18 months ago, Des Clarke had never learned to swim, drive a car or ride a bike.

Des Clarke: "I think I was raised by wolves."

Now, in a new series called Des Doesn't Do, the Glaswegian comic is crowbarred out of his comfort zone as he tries six new things he has avoided for nearly forty years.

Growing up in a high rise tower block in Glasgow had quite an impact on Des Clarke's world view according to the TV presenter.

Certain fears and anxieties crept in leading him to miss out on some basic life experiences which, for most of us, are no big deal.

"I don't know what I did growing up," he told Kaye Adams "but I skipped some basic life skills."

He has also never learned to cook, never had a pet and is too afraid of heights to enjoy theme parks.

"Anyone who's got a genuine phobia or fear of things like heights and falling — that's dealt with in the series ... There's certain parts of it which is just me being a numpty and not having ever cooked dinner for people or not having ever kept a pet. Then there's those other issues which are the anxieties where you'll see me having anxiety and panic attacks on camera and really trying to face my fears."

So what has Des signed himself up to actually... do?

Going on a roller-coaster may be the toughest challenge of the series for Des: he admits that he has a genuine phobia of heights. It first emerged when he was growing up living 21 floors up in high rise flats, "I had this fear of falling...it was a recurring nightmare".

When he was on Mornings on Radio Scotland he explained to Kaye Adams that this might have come from a bad memory. "I really sadly saw people fall to their death when I was really young outside in the flat opposite." "I'd love to do a follow up [TV series] on proper anxieties."

Des has never owned a pet and is afraid of dogs.

He knows it's not a popular opinion but Des admits he just 'doesn't get dogs.'

"I grew up in a scheme in Glasgow so the dogs were crazy," he told Kaye Adams. "Where I grew up the dogs were just wanting to kill me."

To impress upon him the wonders of being a dog owner, Love Island alumni and dog lover Laura Anderson sets Des a series of challenges. These tasks include allowing a police dog to maul him, albeit with protective gear, and encouraging him to wear a pair of visual impairment goggles to appreciate the role of guide dogs. Will it make a difference?

"It was like human chess," says Des of the experience of looking after fellow ´óÏó´«Ã½ presenter Catriona Shearer's two little ones aged 1 and 3. "I was waiting to see who would blink first... the three-year-old actually started helping me!"

Des became babysitter to Catriona's two little daughters Remy and Biba and was 'terrified' to discover one of them was still in nappies.

Des admits he had never even held a baby before but by the end, he says, "I could get why they'd be useful to you... they're a pension plan."

Des is helped by Celebrity Masterchef finalist Kirsty Wark

For Des, the frozen food section of the supermarket equals the holy grail of convenience eating and he admits, when it comes to his eating habits, it might be time he 'grew up'.

Joking apart, this life skill is quite an important one. Taking up home-cooking may well prolong Des's life. As Des remarks, "None of my uncles made it to 50." The Scot recognises his poor diet is likely to be contributing negatively to his health, so forcing himself to invite a few pals over to try his hand at meal preparation is a genuine step in the right direction.

In 2018 as part of a special 'TRY-athlon', city boy Des took his first steps towards becoming an outdoor adventurer when he learned to ride a bike as part of Sport Relief.

"I was partnered up with Sir Chris Hoy ... When he realised I couldn't ride a bike at all, he said, "are you an actual child?"" Des laughs at this but admits the experience was 'embarrassing.' "They had to give me stabilisers."

Des is still not a fan of the outside and has never even been camping. "To be honest I just use the outdoors to get to the indoors." Des's friend, wrestler and TV comedy persona Grado takes him shopping for his first outdoor adventure.

One in five adults now has a tattoo and it seems many of them are Des's mates. "I feel like the odd one out," he tells tattoo artist Fergie.

Given Des is afraid of dogs, water and heights there's a good chance he's not too fond of needles. So he asks the help of an unlikely tattoo-toting mentor. Did you know tennis mum extraordinaire Judy Murray has a tattoo?

To find out what it is and where you'll need to watch the programme. Spoiler alert: it isn't "Andy" and "Jamie" on her knuckles.