The survivalist we have all come to love is Bear Grylls. It seems the man that has become famous for drinking his own urine and eating delicacies like snake, animal intestines and insects has captured our imagination and we can’t get enough of him. In a rare Bear Grylls magazine interview we take a glimpse into what makes this man do the things he does and why he does them.
Bear has publicly stated that his love of his family and his faith are what’s most important to him. His love of adventure developed at a young age when his father used to take him climbing.
This article from NPR.org offers us an insight into his thoughts and why he just can’t get enough of living life on the edge.
Bear Grylls Magazine Interview
On the creation of Man vs Wild
“Textbook survival tells you to stay put. Stop. Wait for rescue. Don’t take any risks. But there’d been a whole host of survival shows like that and I didn’t really
Bear Grylls Magazine Interview
want to do that. I thought, if I’m going to do TV, I’m going to do the stuff that I love doing. You know, if you’ve got to get down this waterfall and all you’ve got is your shoelace and this vine, this is a cool way you can improvise a harness, and let’s get on and do it!”
On why he craves adventure
“I love it. From a young age, I’d climb with my dad when I was about 5 or 6. At that age, it was the same deal. I didn’t necessarily like being cold and scared up a rock face, but I loved hanging out with my dad. And I think I developed a belief that the wild brings people together. And I’ve always loved that. I love the small team we film with. We’ve had the same small crew of four of us for seven seasons of the show. They’re best buddies. And I have the same dynamic with them that I had with my small team of SAS soldiers when I served with the British special forces. You’re in difficult places. You’re under pressure. But you need to look after each other and you create real strong bonds.”
Its obvious Bear has a real passion for living dangerously, but why did he drink his own pee??
“It’s funny to become known for things like that. Those sort of moments aren’t particularly fun, whether you’re drinking the fluid from elephant dung or camel intestinal fluids or yak eyeballs or drinking your own pee. I think viewers quite like it when I’m suffering or eating or drinking something horrible or really up against it in some quicksand or whatever. I’ve definitely learned that those are the viewer’s favorite moments. My favorite moments? Where it’s all going swimmingly, the sun’s out and I’ve got a fire going and a nice snake on the barbecue.”
On his faith:
“Faith is personal if it’s to be real. And I think things that are personal are sometimes hard to talk about. And I think Brits are especially bad at that. But I’ve definitely learned over my life through a lot of difficult times — whether it’s military stuff or losing people on big expeditions on high mountains — I’ve definitely learned it takes a proud man to say he never needs any help. I’m not that man. I do need some help sometimes. And my faith has been that to me. It’s been a real quiet strength and a real glue to our family, as well. For me to be able to climb big mountains with a person I feel has made these mountains is a huge privilege.”
On spending time with his family, away from TV
“I try to remind myself that a lot of my solider friends are away for proper lengths of time. I’m only going away for a few weeks here, a few weeks there. But over seven years, it’s been a lot of time abroad filming. But I love it. I was in last night — I just got back — and was in a bath with the three boys. Lots of bubbles. Lots of rubber ducks. And Shara going, ‘If all these people could know how ridiculous you really are.’”
The Bear Grylls magazine interview is one of our favorites. Find some Bear tactics in our article on Survival in the Wilderness. We love Bear and if you do too then share it with your friends below.
“If you risk nothing you gain nothing”
― Bear Grylls
