Bear's Blog

off to China...

2009-10-07T16:36:00.003Z

Just off tonight to China for a jungle episode of Man Vs Wild. Nervous. Excited. (Both emotions that I feel a lot of on this show!)

Just had a lovely cosy week with family at home and had a fun evening with some Scouts at the premiere of Disney's film:Up, in London. Great film!

Wish me luck. Shoot a prayer!

Bear x

starting up again...

2009-09-02T09:53:00.011Z

I start filming a new desert island show in the next few days.

Have had a good break - trained hard and am 100% focused on the next run of shows. These include the Rockies, desert islands, China, a USA urban one and another celeb special!

The latest series is currently airing in the USA on Discovery: Vietnam, Alabama, Alaska, Texas, and the Arctic Circle, and is doing cool.

We hit the no 1 spot again in the ratings which has been encouraging to the crew and me who have put so much into these. So thanks everyone for your support and watching.

Bear x

ps here's a pic from our family holiday!

Scouts...

2009-05-21T22:52:00.010Z

I am so proud to be able to announce publicly the Scouts have appointed me as their next Chief Scout. It is a post that is a dream come true for me, as someone who has always just loved getting muddy and hanging out with good friends!

It is an honour I would never have even dare imagine as a young scout aged 7 sitting on a pavement trying to figure out how to cook one sausage with one match! (It took a while to work out the fire thing!)

But all I have ever sought in my life is the camaraderie that comes from high adventure, and this is exactly what scouting gives us all - the chance to dare to have a dream and the opportunity to follow it.

There are 28 million Scouts now worldwide and the movement is growing faster than ever before - and the scope for fun is HUGE!

So, I hope I can bring big ears and a big heart to all of you guys - I am here for you, through the email: chief.scout@scout.org.uk and I hope to get round as many scout groups and camps as I can in between filming.

This post for me is about bringing the chance for those who would never normally be able to afford it or to find it, to have the opportunity to live a great adventure. This is all about you guys, the young Scouts, and the more of you I meet the more inspired I am. You are the future of Scouting and together we are all stronger.

And don't forget the inspiration you all are to others young people in your communities. People admire Scouts and what we stand for, so together we must help touch people's lives wherever we can.

God bless,

Bear x

ps two other pieces of news:

I filmed a Born Survivor Man vs Wild with Will Ferrell the actor a few months back, (see blogs below), and this airs soon on Discovery in the USA and UK.

...and I have just finished filming a commercial for the USA with Dos Equis as part of their 'Most Interesting Man' Academy. I have been invited into the Academy as one of their Chief Instructors.

The commercial involved masses of urban survival: like escaping from burning buildings, catching rats, unarmed combat: escaping from being mugged, back somersaults off roof tops and handstands along high walls!

All fun, though I do feel like I have done a few rounds with Tyson - concrete is less forgiving than swamp to land on always!

Vietnam Special

2009-05-05T15:04:00.006Z

I have just returned from filming a Vietnam Man vs Wild Special, which was quite a mission in the very dense jungle.

It reinforced the huge respect I have for any soldier that had to operate in those very intense conditions, especially for those who turned up with no jungle experience - it must have been hell on earth indeed.

Sadly the next jungle shoot I was intending to do had to be postponed as I severed my finger down to the bone on a razor sharp strand of half cut bamboo.

I got it sewn up but it was a bit of a quick job to see me through, hence it looks a bit ugly and ragged!

The production team flew me back to the UK but what concerns me is the lack of feeling in the end of the finger now. I also sliced off the tip of another finger which bled like nobody's business, but the raw flesh is covering up now slowly. Dank, damp jungle conditions are bad for such injuries, trust me!

Anyway, hopefully the nerve damage will repair and I can get back onto the next show, God willing. But I do feel a bit battered generally. Jungle episodes are always intense.

back soon

Bear x

filming in the Arctic...

2009-04-07T14:28:00.005Z

I have just returned from two pretty full on shoots in the Arctic - the first was in Northern Norway for Man vs Wild and the other was in Northern Sweden for a Man Vs Wild Special where I took will Ferrell along for the ride!

More news and pics on all this to follow, but suffice to say it was both cold and a hoot!

But these are two shows that I am especially proud of.

It is a tough environment in minus 20 always and Norway really stretched me - more than I anticipated.

I had a day of where I flew back to the UK to help at the Outdoor Show and then went out to meet Will before we got dropped in together for the Man vs Wild Special.

I really admire Will for taking the plunge and committing to come along, and he arrived with no entourage at all. Just him. I loved that. All I then asked of him was to trust me. We gave him a good briefing the night before and then we both got dropped into the mountains at dawn.

The rest will tell its tale in the show itself, but in summary: Will did amazingly, despite some quite hairy moments. I suspect people will be greatly impressed by him. And for me, it was so lovely to have someone along to laugh with!

I hope you enjoy both these shows when they air soon.

Bear x

Man Vs Wild up & running!

2009-03-14T22:21:00.003Z

Well I am mended!

We have just returned from filming the first new Man Vs Wild since my shoulder accident and all went well and as a crew we survived!

We filmed in the swamps of Alabama and the show included some great moments with forest fire, pig wrestles and very tight caving, not to mention ending up being picked up by State Troopers after being pulled for hitching a ride on a logging truck to end the show!

The shoulder was sore but didn't hold me back and I figured that the way to approach the show was flat out. I feel that it is like playing rugby: it is when you are tenative that you get injured; but when you commit 100% to tackles and the game then you generally survive better.

I have a few days at home now then am off to Norway for the second programme.

There is lots of other exciting news looming but for the time being I will leave it at this.

It feels good to be back in the saddle!

God bless

Bear x

injury update and even better news!...

2009-01-27T20:23:00.001Z

OK - first the boring bit!...

The shoulder is mending well- although it gets really sore and I still have a bone poking up under the skin which looks a bit weird! But as Evel Knievel said: “bones heal and chicks love scars!” (Although Shara doesn’t quite agree!)

Anyway, despite that, I did my first back flip this week and can walk on my hands again, I am running, doing yoga and circuits BUT and this is the but...it is not 100% by a long way and definitely is not pain free.

If it doesn’t stop hurting (a lot!) soon, I might have to get it pinned. But the plan is to rest it a bit more then start filming in early March (God willing) and see how it fares.

My favourite quote is this: ‘Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in an attractive well preserved body; rather to skid in sideways, body thoroughly worn out, covered in scars and screaming “yahoo! What a ride!”

Thank you for your support and prayers...we will get there and I guess the odd injury is par for the course. (It is just that my list of breaks, smashes and cuts is quite a long one now!) But no-one ever said adventure survival is safe or easy!

Anyway, now for the fun bit!

Last week Shara and I had our third little boy, Huckleberry Edward Joscelyne Grylls, weighing 7llbs 11 ounces and his is pure heaven.

Shara had him at home, (which was interesting, with me armed to the teeth and holding the toolbox at the ready!)and she was amazing. She did it all with no pain relief (I tried to give her an aspirin at half way but then remembered she wasn't even allowed that as it thins the blood!)

The other boys are so happy to have a baby brother. The three Musketeers. Brilliant!
Thank the Good Lord.

Bear x

Antarctica...

2008-12-11T20:52:00.011Z

Well, it is fair to say that Antarctica has been more of a mission than I ever anticipated.

But through it all, together, we achieved all we set out to do as a team and I am so proud of how everyone performed: from hanging bivouacs, to jetskiing in -25o, powered by bio-ethanol, from scaling an unclimbed peak to flying electric powered paragliders over the vast ice continent.

I have a price to pay though, having sustained one of the most painful injuries I have ever had, when I severely crushed my shoulder in the latter stages of the expedition.

My right shoulder and clavicle bones were smashed apart in a kite-skiing fall in high winds and sub-zero temperatures (see the x-ray).

The UK surgeon I have just seen on my arrival back to the UK reckons this will take about 10 weeks to mend depending on if or when he has to do reconstructive surgery on it.

The full report from what happened on the expedition can be seen on the diary page of

www.journeyantarctica2008.com

For now I need to rest a bit. My body has had a bit of a battering one way or another this year and I know how lucky I have been all things considered.

All I know is that it is good to be home.

God bless,

Bear x

P.S. the top bone in the x-ray is meant to be joined to the end of the shoulder – that’s where the challenge of recovery over the next couple of months lies!

Man Vs Wild/Born Survivor complete!

2008-11-14T10:45:00.007Z

I have just got home after a bit of a whirlwind of a few months filming.

We were first of all in Belize, which is where in the British Army we did most of the jungle warfare training. The army used Belize for the simple reason that it is regarded as the toughest most dangerous jungle in the world. I always knew that doing a Man Vs Wild / Born Survivor show there would be a mission!

I will let the show speak for itself when it comes out but it involved torrential thunderstorms, a giant boa contrictor snake, whip-scorpions, caves, Tarzan vine swings, waterfalls and a tiny raft on a huge jungle river at night. In short, for us all, it was a tough one!

We then went on to the Dominican Republic, battling through mangrove swamps, making a raft out of rubbish and sharing a hammock made out of vine with a particularly large tarantula!

From here we had a few days off before heading to the Badlands of Oregon and Hell's Canyon, the deepest river gorge in America.

I was dropped in the high mountains, went through the ice of a frozen lake (and not just as a survival technique to demo!), we invented a wild new sport that I have called mountain poling, (you'll love it!) before reaching the river itself and having a whole series of adventures down there. (One of which involved Class 4 rapids and big stoppers!)

We had a great 'End of 2008' Man Vs Wild party on our last night in a small town in the middle of somewhere, (I can't remember the name of the town but everyone there was great!)It was a real relief to let our hair down, have a few drinks and chill out at last!

The crew this year have been awesome, putting up with some seriously tough environments alongside me and I am so proud of how we work together. Without them, this show would be nothing. Highly professional, hard working, always looking out for my backside in tricky situations and best friends. It is a great privilege to work with them. (In many ways I feel it is just like old army days really - a small, professional, motivated team, 'work hard, play hard', get the job done, no complaining ... although instead of having to deal with dangerous humans it is mainly dangerous crocs or snakes nowadays!)

From Hell's Canyon I went on to New York and Washington for a couple of promotional shoots for the new season of Man Vs Wild that comes out in USA in January. I then went to Discovery Head Office for the first time, (that was long over due, I know Discovery, sorry!) Everyone there was so encouraging and supportive and it meant so much to me, as we bust our balls so much the rest of the year!

The reality of my life is that when I am not filming, I go home to my family, I train, I see a few close friends, and that is it. For what it is worth, I tend to keep away from much of the 'glitzy' side of tv (although this is mainly due to finding it all quite scary!)

I then do two short press trips for Channel 4 or Discovery each year and it is only really then that I get more of a perspective on how many people watch this show. So thank you for all your encouragement- it means a lot and helps me when we are struggling in difficult places most of the rest of the year!

I have a few days at home now before leaving for Cape Town.

I am filming a Trail Mix cereal USA TV commercial down there and then am heading down south to Antarctica where I am leading a small expedition to attempt a climb on a very remote un-climbed peak down there.

The aim of the expedition is to promote alternative energies and their potential. We will be using lots of different forms of alternative power, including wind powered kite-skiing, part bio-ethanol powered jetskis and inflatable boats, electric powered paragliders, solar and wind powered base camps…and good old foot work!

I am taking three of my best buddies and I can't wait. The website is

www.journeyantarctica2008.com

and we will be updating this as much as we can from the ice.

Supported by Ethanol Ventures, the expedition also has a clear aim of raising $1million for Global Angels, a charity close to my heart that champions the needs of kids around the world.

God willing we then get home mid-December, to have a proper rest and time at home!

Shara is due with our third baby in january, so I will be getting out the tool box in preparation! I can't believe we will have three children! At least no-one can say life is dull!

Anyway, sorry for the long e-mail but it has been hard to update this when away so much.

Job done!

Bear x

ps pics are from Belize, Dominican Republic, and Hell's canyon...guess which is which!?

shows getting wilder!

2008-09-25T13:31:00.017Z

I have just a few days back home now after filming one programme of man Vs Wild / Born Survivor in Transylvania and another one near the Iraqi border (which was an interesting journey!)

I leave again this week for the jungles of Belize then the swamps of the Dominican Republic. I know how hard these jungle, swamp shows can be and I do get nervous with them, but it is always a case of taking them day by day, and keeping smiling through the rain. (...& hurricanes at this time of year!)

Anyway, the new Channel 4 series starts in the UK next week, every sunday night at 6.30pm, so I hope my Mum enjoys them!

I will clock in again after we are done.

Thanks guys
love
Bear x

ps attached are some cool pics from the recent shows....guess where? and guess what I caught?!
pps The parachute lake landing shot was at 9500ft on the Turkish border with Iraq.

back to work!

2008-09-01T18:15:00.008Z

Shara, me and our young boys have had such a cool, cosy time together as a family this last few weeks and we were in Wales on our little island then back at our houseboat on the Thames. (pics attached!)

But now it is back to work!

I leave this week for the next set of programmes, filming in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania then Eastern Turkey.

The next locations after that are the jungles of Belize then the Dominican republic, and finally Oregon. Then at the end of the year I am leading a small climbing expedition to Antarctica promoting alternative energy and its potential.

The new series of Man Vs Wild is currently premiering in the USA. These include: Northern Mexico, west coast of Ireland, the swamps of the Deep South, Yukon in NW Canada and the Black Hills and Badlands of Dakota. These shows took a lot to make and I feel pretty proud of them - I hope people are enjoying them!

I will report back at the end of Romania and Turkey....
Bear x

ps for what it is worth, this quote has always summed up the way I try to live my life....enjoy!

'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, covered in scars, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'yahoo!', what a ride.'

Record

2008-07-23T10:04:00.005Z

Well we have finished filming at last for the summer - it has been a full on few months doing shows in Yukon, Dakota, Ireland, Louisiana and Mexico, but the current series is done and I have a short break now with my family. Alleluia! We are up on our small island in Wales - minimal danger and minimal discomfort! Bliss!

I also attach a pic from our Guinness world record that we broke last week, setting a new time for the longest ever continuous indoor freefall!

I had been back only a few days, we had announced our latest Antarctic expedition for this winter, I finished off a new book on great adventures for Dad's and kids (ie how to make treehouses, go scrambling, diving etc), and done a few talks. All was set for a quick record attempt in a wind tunnel then off on holiday! The truth is that I had no idea what I was letting myself in for!

The previous record was 1hr 36mins by a US team. I thought: 'how hard can it be!?' My two fellow skydivers, Al & Freddie, are excellent freeflyers, and they knew that the most efficient body position to maintain in the wind tunnel over such a long time would be on their backs. This requires a much stronger wind strength than normal skydiving (ie face down), in order to keep them up. This meant that it was much harder for me to maintain stability on my tummy as everything becomes so responsive in that wind strength. They weighted me down with a weight belt but still after 7minutes in the tunnel I was struggling!

By 50mins I was having to dig deeper than I had in a long time! The record was a record for good reason! And to stay in freefall for over an hour and a half is tough. This for me was becoming one of the hardest mental challenges I had ever known.

By 1hr 30 I was beginning to hallucinate. Several times I started to loose control and Freddie had to help me regain control. By 1hr 35 we were all at our limit and I was fighting to hold it together for a precious couple of minutes longer. At 1hr37 on the dot we all crashed together in a pile. We had broken the record by a matter of a few seconds! It had been touch and go but we had done it.

We were brilliantly supported by Airkix and were also raising awareness for the charity Global Angels that saves children's lives around the world.

I could hardly walk for an hour afterwards, I am still stiff 3 days later and my nose is still pouring with snot from the wind damage to my sinuses! But together we did it - just. Thank you to a great team.

Now...I am off on holiday!

We start filming again soon - location clues: the Lost World, the Heroes of Telemark, and the place of many US survival epics.

Have a brill summer!

Bear x

Next location...

2008-05-13T19:24:00.005Z

My new book 'Man Vs Wild, Survival techniques from the most dangerous places on earth', launched across the USA this week and I was in NYC and LA for some book signings.

It was good to get to meet many of the people who have enjoyed and encouraged the show over the last few years. From college kids to ex-Rangers, survival guys and climbers to armchair adventures, fathers and sons, and just good ol' regular TV viewers!

I found it quite daunting at first sight but felt, above all, what a privilege and thank you.

I then brought my family out for a few days chill out before we then flew home and I started to prepare for the next Season of shows. I leave for location tomorrow morning. Quite nervous - again!

I thought though it would be good to add a couple of my favourite shots from these latest shows for people to view.

(There are more of these now in the photo gallery and they are generally the unofficial shots, my crew shots, so to speak. I hope you enjoy them.)

See if you can guess where these ones are from? It's a good Geography test!!

Also here's a tip about where the next few locations are: 1) big state, cold and hilly! 2) Big island, black drinks!

Stay well

wish me luck!

Bear x

2008-04-26T19:10:00.007Z

Have had a bit of an epic on the last two shoots in Mexico and the Deep Southern swamps!

The first shoot I got whopped by some bees whilst raiding a nest to get honey. Hence the photo here. (although I did get the honey!)

But it meant that I had to spend the rest of the shoot looking like this, feeling terrible and only able to open my eyes with much effort.

It made fighting a big pit viper rattlesnake interesting! (Although I did eventually get it. I then could eat it, and then use its skin to store my urine in whilst in the burning hot salt pan desert. (The cocktail of snake innards and pee was truly terrible!)

I was then in the swamps - these are always the toughest shows to do- and I did end up having a pretty full-on encounter with a 6ft alligator. I came out on top, just, skinned it for cordage for my camp to sleep in, rubbed the alligator fat on me for mosquito repellant and then ate it.

In short, I am looking forward to a bit of a holiday with my family next week!

Bear x

2008-03-25T14:55:00.003Z

We have just made it home from Sumatra where we filmed a bit of a marathon session of a desert island film, a volcano one and a jungle and swamp programme.

I am really proud of how the crew managed out there in probably amongst the hardest nd most dangerous conditions we have ever had. (and certainly the wettest and stinkiest!)

I thought at this point it might be good to show a few of my favourite 'un-official' pics from behind the scenes of Man Vs Wild & Born Survivor, as ultimately it is these guys who make the whole thing work and make it possible.
My good friends - highly professional and a team that I have much pride in.
Enjoy!

Introducing the one and only..... Man vs Wild Crew!

Back from Africa...

2008-02-03T22:04:00.000Z

I have just landed back home after one of hardest few episodes of Man Vs Wild/Born Survivor.

Having started off on the Namibian coast on day 1 with fresh, soft hands after a good holiday break, two weeks later I am walking back through the front door of our houseboat with Shara saying I looked battered, with cuts, grazes, brusies everywhere, and with blistered, hard hands... I guess I am just back into the Man Vs Wild way again after Christmas!

These shows though, I feel will be especially good ones; full of some of the most intense scenes I can remember. From being dropped into the infamous southern Atlantic swells off the Skeleton Coast, doing battle with large puff adders, to riding some of the biggest rapids in the world; to then getting diarrehea hanging off a sheer rock face, making a canoe out of a dead zebra, and then being caught in a pit with a ravaged giant porcupine! No-one can say life is dull.

As ever the crew worked alongside me in some quite intense situations, and the San Bushmen I encountered were an inspiration to me. Wonderful, gentle, instinctive people.

I hope you guys enjoy the shows when they air in the Spring along with Siberia and Indonesia which I leave for in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I am away again this week as I am speaking in both Phoenix and Prague, but am then taking my two young boys off for some antics in the English countryside!

Stay well,

Bear x

ps Channel 4 in the UK start airing the new Born Survivor Series around Easter time, sunday nights 8pm. More to follow.

pps photo is from the end of the Zambian episode - somewhere down on the Lower Zambezi River. Alongside me is one of the professional hunters assigned to the safety of the crew when we were working so close to the hippos and crocs.

leaving the sub zero and heading to the desert!

2008-01-17T16:25:00.000Z

I leave today for Namibia, one of the oldest desert in the world, and the second least populated country on earth, after Greenland.

It's going to prove a very hot one in the southern hemisphere summer...but if I have learnt anything from all these expeditions it is that the good moments of life are rarely easy.

If I am honest, I am quite apprehensive about these next two African shows (Zambia and Namibia) and I know how careful you have to be with crocs, snakes and wild beasts in those countries. (My two young boys seem much more relaxed about it than me!)

But we have a good team and I have operated in Zambia beforehand. I am sure once I am on the ground I will find that survival instinct comes to me again.

It is so often like this before I leave: I am nervous of the unknown and the risks, then once I land in country I am so absorbed with doing everything that the apprehension gets pushed aside.

Feeling nervous is normal though, I guess. What matters is that you still go, and give your everything, no matter how hard it is.

One of my favourite quotes I ever heard was from a soldier: "I look at it like this: I expect to work for 24 hours of every day, until my eyes bleed with fatigue. Anything less than this is then a bonus!"

I will update this on my return.
Wish me luck.

Bear x

ps the photo is from Siberia - after an encounter with a yak.

Siberia and beyond...

2007-12-15T12:22:00.000Z

Well I am home in one piece... more or less! (The ends of my fingers in my left hand and the tips of my toes in my right foot are still tingling and a bit numb from some frostnip which is annoying.)

But Siberia was definitely the hardest show I have ever filmed, with daytime temperatures of -30o and at night time it dropped down as low as -40o.
We did some great stuff, from jumping onto Trans-Siberian trains, to swimming under the ice in a frozen lake. We did sub-zero river crossings, big ice and snow climbs, and a heli jump from 40ft into a snow cornice. I ate frozen yak eye balls, made a toboggan from its fur & skin, and skydived into the Taiga Siberian snow buried forest!
Man Vs Wild is staying suitably extreme!

But it was all fun and the crew really worked hard, and in such environments as these this show works because the team works. I feel very proud of how everyone coped in such conditions.

Pieces of news: Discovery have some new top management who want me to stick with pure Man Vs Wild rather than branch out into the pre-proposed extra shows where I might have taken a couple of applicants with me into the wild. Shame but maybe one day this will re-surface. But ultimately I'm not the paymaster!

I now have a bit of a break for Christmas with my family, (heaven!) then I leave for Namibia, Zambia then Sumatra in the New Year for more programmes.

Have a lovely Christmas, God bless and go wild at New Year!

Bear x

ps pic is of me and the crew at the end of the Siberian programme - we are all exhausted...and it shows! (left to right: Simon, Dan, Dave, and me.)

Siberia...in winter!

2007-11-25T21:15:00.000Z

The new Season of 'Man Vs Wild' and 'Born Survivor' is in the middle of its run, airing across Europe and America, but I actually leave today to what feels like the furthest end of the world: Siberia.

Filming a 'Man Vs Wild' here in mid-winter, with average day time temperatures of -25o, feels pretty daunting, but it is also a place where I have dreamt of doing one of these survival shows ever since we first started. But I am definitely nervous.

I actually fly via Miami where I am giving an Everest talk at a conference there, then I fly back to Europe, onto Moscow, before a second night flight east across Russia to Siberia. Then I am pretty much straight into the opening of the film, which will be a skydive from the back of a military helicopter into the frozen wastelands. By that stage I predict I will be desperate to get out of flying machines and onto the ground!

Two extra pieces of news:

First up, Channel 4 in the UK have bought the next 13 episodes of Born Survivor. Channel 4 were the first broadcasters to encourage me to do TV, when I did the show 'Escape to the Legion', and I feel a great loyalty to them, so it is good to have the next year planned.

Secondly, Discovery are planning a potential series of Man Vs Wild 'extras', to run alongside the main 'Man Vs Wild' shows. The idea for these episodes is for a couple, (maybe a father and son, or two college friends, a mother and daughter, two celebrities, you name it!) to get dropped into the wilds alongside me, and I assess how they cope and help them through where I can. We live the struggle together and these guys get to pit themselves against some true wildernesses.

We plan to film a pilot show of this in February. Watch this space and also www.discovery.com/bear for more news and how to apply!

Until then, fingers crossed for Siberia. I am just focussed on surviving and making it back in time for Christmas with my family.

Bear x

ps photo is Natasha (Beddingfield) and me launching Global Angels Charity in Time Sq, New York last week. Global Angels are the charity we raised funds for through our latest Mission Everest, and this US launch should open up the possibility of many thousands more children's lives being saved worldwide. Please support any way you feel you can! see: www.globalangels.org

Preparation for Man Vs Wild....

2007-10-24T17:09:00.000Z

One of the questions I have been asked a lot is about how I prepare physically and mentally for each of these survival shows.

The real answer is that the preparation for Man Vs Wild started when I was about five years old, and has been on going ever since.

The first thing to note is that I am neither an actor nor a TV host. I don’t have the luxury of stunt men or auto-cue. I am just someone who has been trained since a young age by both my late father and by the British Special Forces in quite a wide variety of skills.

As a kid I never had any ambition to be a TV person. In fact, in my ignorance, it took the first 'Man Vs Wild' producer three separate trips to come and see me to persuade me to film a pilot episode. I didn’t feel I would be any good at TV and was just busy just doing my stuff. The more I said this, the more I was told ‘we don’t want a smart TV host, we just want to follow and film some of the things you can do’. I agreed and this whole mad journey began!

But since very young I did have a strong driving ambition to climb, to follow my dreams of many different adventures and to join the Army. This is how I have tried to live my life. The only real difference since Man Vs Wild is that I now get paid better for doing this. But in order to be able to do all that I do in the shows I need to maintain both my physical and mental training throughout the year, whilst also filming a very tight schedule.

I routinely train for three to four hours a day to keep my physical fitness at the level needed to sustain the pace of each shoot; this routine includes weights, running, yoga, rucksack runs, yomps, and circuit training.

In addition I need to dedicate time and energy every day to maintaining my skill levels within each discipline I use: such as skydiving, climbing, paragliding, yoga, gymnastics, and martial arts.

In between all this I have my family to love and hang out with. I have two great boys and a wife who means the world to me. My challenge through a lot of the craziness of the last couple of years since Man Vs Wild took off, is to balance my family life with my training and filming schedule.

It is sometimes hard with a lot of pressures applied from different directions, but I am pretty focussed on two things: the first is making sure I am a good, loyal, fun and present Dad and husband, and secondly that I deliver ambitious, ground breaking, edge-of-your-seat style TV shows. Both of these require time and commitment. But both these elements I know are the key to any success I have had.

The final part of the equation is my Christian faith…I look at this as the thread that binds all these other elements together. I pray daily for my family and we also have little quiet times together, and I pray hard when out filming for safety, good judgement and for protection in all the dangers.

I am very aware that as the TV show grows, the dangers have also increased as we endeavour to continue pushing the boundaries and delivering bold TV. The tragic death of Steve Irwin was a sober reminder that just because it is TV does not mean it is safe, and ultimately it is my responsibiltiy is to ensure my own safety and make good decisions in some quite high pressure situations.

I hope this gives an idea of the preparation involved on a personal level for me, but ultimately I feel the luckiest man alive – it is a dream job that allows me to do what I love and have been trained to do. I feel like a giant kid: climbing trees, eating gunk, and invariably getting caked in mud! It doesn’t get much better than that.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming shows: 'Bear's Mission Everest' and the new 'man Vs Wild: Bear Grylls'. I have just watched them and they are definitely among the most exciting stuff I have ever done.

Thanks for watching, stay well

Bear x

Ps have a look at the updated photo albums on the website from man Vs Wild…..

pps and as to the photos above: they are both from the Patagonia shoot; the top one is riding a Gaucho horse across the mountains and the bottom one is what happens when your raft sinks and it is snowing!

2007-10-16T15:07:00.001Z

I have just got home (at last!) from Patagonia where we filmed the last show in the new Man Vs Wild season.

These new 2 hour programmes include: Mission Everest by paramotor, Sahara, Patagonia and the jungles of Panama. These air in early November, in the USA first, then elsewhere.

Also, for those who are interested, the latest edition of 'Outside' Magazine features an in-depth article in response to the allegations earlier this year about Man Vs Wild. See the Press section of the website.

...oh and for those who need an extra jersey for the winter, the latest Bear Grylls range is out as well, (kids, ladies etc). See the Merchandising section of the site.

As for me...I am off to bed for two days!

Bear x

2007-09-28T19:02:00.000Z

I have just got home from the Panama jungles – and it is no wonder the US sent so many of their SEALS and Astronauts to train there in jungle survival – it is definitely one of the toughest places I have been. I counted over 104 mosquito bites when I had a shower at the end!
The mangrove swamps were pretty hellish and I managed to get bitten by a snake for the first time which hurt! But apart from that I had a very special time with the Embera Tribe hunting together, and then following the old Gold trails of the Camino Real. We also filmed quite a bit of behind the scenes with the crew and safety team for Discovery Channel, to accompany the new Season that airs in early November.

We included as well a whole part of the show on survival 'camouflage and concealment', near the infamous Darien Gap on the Colombian border, which is one of the kidnapping hot spots of the world. I hope you will enjoy this show, it was gritty, dirty, humid and at times tasted foul!

I leave tomorrow for Patagonia, at the southern tip of South America, after having had only two days at home (during which, annoyingly, I have been laid a bit low, half from being exhausted and half from some dodgy snake I ate before leaving the jungle!)

Last report from Patagonia it was tipping -20o, so it is from one extreme to the other at the moment. But I have promised my boys we’ll buy a mini remote controlled helicopter when I next get home. They can hardly get me out the door fast enough!

Bear x

2007-09-10T14:18:00.000Z

I just got some of the pictures through from the Sahara upcoming episode. I thought this one was a good one of me and the crew working togther.

I've just arrived in Panama and start filming in the jungle tomorrow, so am busy prepping kit and downing anti-malaria tablets.

Bear x

Season Two...

2007-08-29T08:49:00.001Z

I am off this week to start filming the rest of Man Vs Wild Season Two. I’m a bit daunted but definitely excited, and the environments are now even more extreme. They include the Sahara, Patagonia, Panama and Siberia...in winter.

The new shows will also now be two hours long, instead of one - partly because so many of the locations are so remote, but also so we can go into greater detail, and show the behind the scenes work, including the crew’s role.

One of my goals is to be clearer that this is not a programme about ‘textbook’ survival. It is more like extreme survival, showing what you can do in desperate situations. I always work within my own capabilities and training, but these capabilities might be different from other people’s. I don’t want people to copy what I do, but to watch, hopefully enjoy and in so doing learn something that might one day save their life.

Thanks for so much support and all your emails this summer. I am fired up to make these new shows amazing!

Bear x

ps pic above is from our holiday in North Wales...it was heaven!

Sahara Filming Update

2007-08-03T15:23:00.000Z

The Sahara was probably one of the hardest episodes we have filmed - made hotter and harder by the fact that it was July out there! Two of the camera crew had to be casevac-ed with heatstroke, but after a few days at our base camp they had recovered. I also met up with a local tribe which added a whole new dimension to the show, although having to eat a massive raw goats testicle as their guest was a low point for me!

Re: the recent press accusations around Man Vs Wild and any stagings in the show, all I can say is they don't always tell the full story, but that’s life and part of being in the public eye I guess.

The upshot is we’re determined to make all new shows more inclusive of the crew and their role. Discovery and Channel 4 will also include a disclaimer at the start of the show so there's no confusion.

I can't tell you how much all the support and encouraging letters and emails have meant to me during all that. Thank you.

When I get back from our family break, (we are up in the hills of Wales, lovely!) I will be back to my regular blog posting. In the meantime thanks again for so much support. It has meant a lot.

Bear x

Ps here are a few nice letters from fellow explorers who know me best.
Thanks guys.

Sir,

The recent alleged "revelations" that Bear Grylls stayed a night in a motel whilst on location filming for Man Vs Wild/Born Survivor and that some of his feats of endurance are being questioned for authenticity, leaves me irritated.

Should we really allow jealous local survival experts, past their sell-by-date adventurers and disloyal expedition organisers the time of day in print to attempt to discredit a man attempting things most of us wouldn't dream of doing and providing great entertainment on the small screen to boot.

If Bear Grylls were a fraud, as some of these detractors would have us believe, then I'd be the first to know. I witnessed first hand his paramotor flight high in the Himalaya, served in UK Special Forces alongside him, rode a jet ski around Britain with him and stood on the summit of Mt. Everest next to him.

I can assure you and your readers that he is the most courageous, honest, generous, fun, mischievous, caring and loving family man I have ever met.

Neil Laughton
Chairman, Office Projects Ltd
(World 7 Summiteer)

I thought that Born Survivor & Man Vs Wild was one of the most entertaining shows of this year, and without you it wouldn't have been possible. I hope that this all blows over quickly (funny how they are so quick to slate the show, but no mention of your many incredible achievements), and you can get on with entertaining us all with the next series.

Just to say that I am so proud with my even meagre association with you and you will foreverbesomeone I aspire to.

Jake Meyer
(current youngest World 7 summiteer and British Everest climber)

Dear Sir/Madam

The Daily Mail's attack on Bear Grylls mentions that he is 'the cheese soufflé' of the adventure world and, by way of pushing this assertion, suggests that he may not have been the youngest Brit to scale Everest, and implies that 21 SAS Regiment is not as tough as 22 SAS Regiment. I would comment that he was indeed the youngest Brit because the only possible rival claimant was clearly Australian. And that 21 SAS membership requires distinctly non-cheese soufflé people. Its comparison to 22 SAS is therefore irrelevant and cheap, suggestive journalism of a misleading nature.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes
('World's greatest living explorer' Guinness book of Records)