Rappelling sheer cliffs is just another day at the office for Bear Grylls. Ditto climbing waterfalls, eating bear dung and frozen yak eyeballs, and biting the heads off live snakes.
The star of Discovery Channel's "Man vs. Wild" and "Worst Case Scenario," Grylls, 36, continues his episodic challenges of Mother Nature.
He made it clear after some controversy a few years ago that he does, indeed, go out with a crew and medical help at the ready while he performs his own risky "stunts." He's the son of the late Sir Michael Grylls, a Conservative Party politician in Britain, and Lady Grylls.
Bear Grylls climbed Mount Everest when he was 23, which brought him to the public's attention. He lives in London with his wife, Shara, and three young sons. New episodes of "Man vs. Wild" air 9 p.m. EDT Wednesdays.
Excerpts from an interview:
Q: Do you remember the first most unappetizing thing you had to bite into?
A: As a child my mum always used to stew Brussels sprouts on Christmas Day for about three hours, and it would just be a truly dread-filled moment tucking into stewed Brussels sprouts. So we got made to do it. It's given me an ability to eat the uneatable.
Q: Obviously the camera crew is with you, but is medical backup equipped depending on your location? If you are in an area of venomous snakes, is there antivenin nearby, for instance?
A: We have very good communications, and we always have a helicopter rescue on standby, which is a maximum an hour away. We used it for the first time this season in the Rockies. I got injured by a falling camera while cascading down a steep, snow/ice face. I got hit very hard by this camera, and it missed my head by about 3 inches. They reckon if it had hit my head it would have taken my whole head off and killed me. I was very lucky it hit my leg. My leg ballooned up about three times its size. I had to be rescued off the mountain by helicopter and taken to a hospital.
Q: A certain amount of planning goes into episodes of "Man vs. Wild," but how do you plan something like a snake encounter?
A: You've just always got to anticipate the worst, you know? The wild is very unpredictable, and you just need to be not taken by surprise and anticipate new things and always have a backup plan.
Q: Did you have to audition for the show?
A: No, they came to me three times to do "Man vs. Wild," and I kept saying "no" because I didn't want to do television. The more I said, "I don't want to do TV," they said, "We don't want a TV person. We just want to film what you do." I made them promise as long as I could just do my stuff and I wouldn't have to worry about the cameras too much, I'd do it. There's no script. I still don't feel like it's TV. I just do my stuff and tell the camera crew what I'm doing and they film it. We just go and live these adventures. If they don't get it the first time, we move on, and we just keep going.
Q: Which is harder on the human body? Extreme heat or extreme cold?
A: They both can kill very quickly. I've been in deserts where if you've got no water and no survival training you can be dead in three hours. But, likewise, I've been in Siberia in wintertime, where it is minus 55 degrees and if you don't get out of the wind and rain you are dead within a matter of hours as well. The real extremes are where the real danger is. I think if I had to pick one, I would probably pick the cold because at least there is something you can do about it, which is just keep moving hard.
Q: There is a lot of physical exertion necessary when you demonstrate survival skills, but how important is mental conditioning?
A: The mental side is everything, really. The rest just follows, and if you are not right mentally, nothing else works. It's all about keeping your hope alive and keeping that positive attitude and smiling when it's raining and being able to laugh when things get hard and being able to still see solutions when all around you are problems. Being persistent.
Q: How do you keep panic at bay?
A: Acknowledge it and then harness it. Fear is just an emotion that is there to sharpen you for what you need to do. When you look at it like that, then you can use it and control it rather than it controlling you.
Q: So what about your wife? Does she share your enthusiasm for outdoor adventure?
A: Um, no. She's my reason for coming home, and I don't let her see the shows.
Q: You have a clothing line, books, games and a second show, "Worst Case Scenario," but have you ever considered following your father's footsteps into politics?
A: No, no. I think having grown up seeing it close up, I don't think I'm strong enough to survive it. I think it would be horrible. We each have our own callings, and I think it's nice that you can forge your own road. My dad, especially, really encouraged me to follow my dreams and look after my friends along the way.
Q: I read that you are a man of faith. Were you always like that, or did your brush with death in the military, when your parachute failed, precipitate it?
A: You know, I always think of the quote "There's no such thing as an atheist in the death zone." I think it's a bit like that. When everything is going swimmingly, we don't realize our need for help. But I've learned through a lot of experiences in the military and expeditions that it takes a proud man to say he never needs any help. My Christian faith is an important backbone and strength in my life.
• • •
Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.
