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“Oh my god, look at that nutter!”

are the first words which Janine shouted when she saw Mark, the man who is now her husband.

Janine (right) with her sisters

Mark sprinted past her whilst he was on fire. 1992 is the year she fell in love with the man in flames. We talk to Janine about her life, son and we can’t go without asking if the fire is still burning 17 years later?

“I was pretty quiet when I was younger and kept myself to myself. I met Mark and he flipped my life upside down. It was only when I met him that I came out of myself and really discovered what I was like inside.

“It all began when I went to a gala with my sisters in Doncaster. We were sat there a stunt man was introduced to the crowd and he set himself on fire and run the length of the arena.”

Mark certainly made that important first impression on Janine, but what happened when he revealed himself?

“When we first met we just spoke to each other as though we were best friends and that is how we have carried on through each others lives.

“I always think there is a path for everyone in life. It’s just uncanny that we are together, me from Grimethorpe and Mark from Scotland. Mark moved down to Doncaster and built his stunt career from the age of 14.

Getting together

“We finally got together when I was 21. Unbelievably Mark was working at the pit to start with whilst he was building his career as a stuntman. I had just started working in Wakefield as a receptionist.

“When we first started seeing each other it was very difficult meeting up. He was coming from Doncaster and I was in Wakefield. It sounds strange but within a few weeks we were living together, we know we wanted to be together so we did it.

Janine and Mark on their wedding day

“My family weren’t too bothered but I always said to my dad that I wanted a baby before I got married and that was frowned on. He used to say, ‘don’t you do that, get married first.’

“We did get engaged quite early and found a lot of our friends were getting married. We didn’t want to get forced into it. We wanted to do it when we wanted to do it. Now, we’re still together and a lot of our friends have no spilt up.

“Our son Aaron was born in 1995 and two years later he was Marks best man at our wedding! 

“We’ve been together 17 years ago and in 2008 we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary by renewing our vows.

Working together

“As soon as we met I went to all Marks shows. I used to stand on the sidelines watching and the more I watched him the more I wanted to get involved. His manager said, ‘How many wives want to set their husbands on fire!?’ And so I started as a commentator working the crowds. I set Mark on fire nearly every weekend.”

But that soon changed…

“One night me and Mark were drinking some wine. I came up with this silly thought that it’d be good to do a role reversal. Instead of me setting Mark on fire, he set me on fire.

Janine on fire

“The morning after I thought, ‘Oh no what have I said’ and hoped he wouldn’t remember but he did. A few months later, he said, ‘Come on let’s get practising. It’s not just about setting yourself on fire. There’s a lot of practise involved.’

“The first time I did it was unbelieavable. I knew I’d be safe with Mark by my side. The first show I performed at was in Penistone and I invited all my family, but I didn’t tell them what I was going to do. It was a bit of a surprise, especially to my dad. As soon as I did it, I wanted to do it again.

“It’s not what you expect. I automatically thought you’d feel the heat but it isn’t like that.The only thing that I can compare it to, is the sounds of a train coming. It’s a rumble. When you’re on fire you run. Whilst you’re running heat is coming away from you, it’s when you drop on the floor you feel the heat but by that point Mark has got the fire extinguisher (hopefully!) and the heat stops. The adrenalin is amazing. It’s not for everybody though.”

Through good times and bad…

Despite Mark and his fire extinguers, Janine admits that you always hear that something bad may happen…

“Your always going to have that fear that something will go wrong.

Husband Mark doing a freefall dive

“The worst thing that has happened was when Mark laid in the middle a circle. He set the outer circle on fire and the crowd would count down to see how long he could stay in it for.

“He bought some boots from the fire service and they said that they were fire proof, well they weren’t and the plastic melted on to his legs. He went into hospital and then a week later he did another show on crutches. He’s so determined, he’s a mental case.

“He jumped off a 50ft tower three years ago. There was no wind and then all of a sudden when he jumped off, a gust of wind caught him. Luckily he landed on the airbag on the ground but his legs didn’t. He smashed his ankles. A week later he was back on his feet again. I think he’s just a fast healer, you definitely don’t want to see his feet though.

Stronger

“As a couple we are really close and through doing the shows we used to be part of a team and then five years ago we decided to go solo and run our own shows.

“Because we have that friendship, we have to trust each other 100%. Our relationship just gets better and better.”

Aaron

“Mark put our son Aaron on a motorbike when he was about nine months old, sat him on it just to feel the engine - he wasn’t riding on it. From there Aaron rode his first motorbike when he was three years old. Now he’s 13 and grown through lots of motorbikes he’s jumping over six or seven cars using ramps.

Janine with son Aaron

“He really is unbelievable, he can sometimes perform to thousands of people but he’s very shy. He doesn’t tell people at school what he does. He doesn’t want to say, ‘I do this, I do that’, he’s just normal. We did a programme on TV last year and he just kept his head down. He’s so laid back with it which is good, I don’t want him showing off.

“Its up to Aaron if he wants to continue doing what he’s doing and if he doesn’t, then he doesn’t.” 

The day job

And with all that excitement would you believe that they both have day jobs!

“When we see the audiences cheering you know you’ve done a good job. But then again its nice to go back and have your own life and settle down.

“Mark is an area manager for a fire fighting company where he works Monday to Friday. It’s funny because on the weekend I’m setting fire to him!

Aaron performing a fire jump

“All of the fire extinguishers we use sponsored by his company so it does comes in handy!!

“I work for Iceland 10-2pm every weekday. I used to be a delivery driver but now I’m working in the shop, dispatching drivers.

“It’s funny because I can be seen wearing my high heels, lippy and dressed nice and then I’m in overalls, mucky black biker boots on, a hood and a mucky helmet and gloves, and Mark setting fire to me. Its from one extreme to the other.”