Netflix’s latest reality competition series marks another exciting chapter in the career of Bear Grylls. This time, the adventurer, author and TV personality will be sharing his survival skills with a host of celebrities including former Spice Girl Mel B, Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas and ex-tennis champion Boris Becker.
Not only that, but Grylls will also put them to the test by hunting them down in the Costa Rican jungle. But what do we know about Bear Grylls himself away from his shows?
Born Edward Michael Grylls on June 7, 1974 in Donaghadee, Co Down, he holds Irish citizenship, something he has said he is ‘very proud’ of and that it has ‘saved the day’ since Brexit.
He spent the first four years of his life in Northern Ireland before moving to the UK. His mother Sarah Ford, later Lady Sarah Grylls, is considered “fully Irish” as she was raised by an Irish mother.
His maternal grandmother was Patricia Ford, the Ulster Unionist MP for North Down. Mrs Ford was the first female MP from Northern Ireland and won the North Down constituency seat in a by-election following the death of her father, Sir Walter Smiles, reports Surrey Live. His father was Sir Michael Grylls, a one-time MP for Surbiton.
Bear got his nickname from his older sister when he was just around a week old and it stuck. He later attended Eton College where he helped establish a mountaineering club and earned a degree in Spanish and German from the University of the West of England.
He served in the Territorial Army with the 21 SAS from 1994 until 1997. His military career ended following an accident in which his parachute failed when falling from 16,000 feet and he broke three vertebrae. It was one of the highest ever falls to be survived without a functional parachute.
However, following his recovery, just 18 months later, he became one of the youngest people to climb Mount Everest at 23. Before his first expedition, he met his wife Shara Cannings Knight on New Year’s Eve in 1998 while running naked along a freezing beach in Scotland, trying to recover his clothes from the water. He feared it was the “worst timing in the world to fall in love”.
The couple went on to have three sons together – Jesse, Marmaduke and Huckleberry, and raised them on a houseboat on the River Thames which featured an outdoor bath, a hammock, and a canoe. However, the family now split their time between a luxury penthouse at the redeveloped Battersea Power Station site and a remote island near Wales.
Bear reportedly purchased Saint Tudwal’s Island West in 2001 for £95,000. It is situated near the coast of Llyn Peninsula, five miles offshore and is 20 acres in size. There is a former lighthouse keeper’s cottage which features no mains electricity or running water but Bear has said he loves living on the island.
He reminisced: “We’ve made some amazing memories living there and spending time with the boys on the island over the years, and just being able to have that space and enjoy nature, has been really special.”
Bear Grylls also opened up about his exceptional apartment at Battersea Power Station in a chat with MailOnline back in 2015, sharing: “As a family, we didn’t just want a run-of-the-mill townhouse or riverside development, we were attracted to Battersea Power Station because it was a chance to own a bit of history that we could pass on down through the family.”
Elaborating further, he expressed: “We have moored our houseboat barge in Battersea for many years, and are proud to keep that still, but to be able to buy within this landmark building and own that small slice of London history felt like a very special opportunity. It will make a very unique home.”
Off-screen, Bear holds the title of honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College and from 2015 until 2024, served as the youngest ever Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories. His efforts have also seen him become an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, culminating in an OBE bestowed upon him in 2019.
Celebrity Bear Hunt is streaming on Netflix