Outlander's Sam Heughan talked about his castle upbringing as filming for series seven gets well underway.
Sam, 41, has starred in many locations involving castles on the Starz hit drama and felt right at home in all of them - as he revealed he lived in the grounds of a derelict one when he was a boy.
Sam, who was born in Balmaclellan, lived in New Galloway, Scotland's smallest royal burgh as a boy.
He and his family resided in Kenmure Castle's converted stables and in a podcast with Scottish Fields, he said: "I was born and brought up in southwest Scotland in Dumfrieshire, so I guess just a really idyllic kind of setting.
"We were living on the grounds of an old castle, Kenmure Castle, a really small rural area. Very sort of safe, I guess.
He added: "I think I was just very lucky to have all of that. Scotland is my playground, you know, like kind of the history there, the castle and I think my mother really instilled in me a joy of walking and getting outdoors. "
Sam who also stars in Men In Kilts exploring the great outdoors with sidekick Graham McTavish admits he wasn't really a fan of the healthy outdoorsy lifestyle when he was wee.
He admitted: " I guess as a kid you don't really enjoy it. You're kind of moaning and complaining. But actually, as you get older, you realise.
"I do a lot of mountain biking, my brother works in mountain biking business and it's amazing actually, that area is also really changed quite a lot."
"There's a lot more outdoor activities down there."
Sam and his co-star Caitriona Balfe have now started work on series seven of the hit time travelling drama.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our weekly Showbiz newsletter here.
