Mud Sweat & Tears - Bear Grylls [117]
It’s no surprise that all the behind-the-scenes episodes we do are so popular – people like to hear the inside stories about what it is really like when things go a little ‘wild’. As they often do.
My crew are incredible – truly – and they provide me with so much of my motivation to do this show. Without them I am nothing.
Simon Reay brilliantly told me on episode one: ‘Don’t present this, Bear, just do it – and tell me along the way what the hell you are doing and why. It looks amazing. Just tell me.’
That became the show.
And there is the heroic Danny Cane, who reckoned I should just: ‘Suck an earthworm up between your teeth, and chomp it down raw. They’ll love it, Bear. Trust me!’
Inspired.
Producers, directors, the office team and the field crew. My buddies. Steve Rankin, Scott Tankard, Steve Shearman, Dave Pearce, Ian Dray, Nick Parks, Woody, Stani, Ross, Duncan Gaudin, Rob Llewellyn, Pete Lee, Paul Ritz and Dan Etheridge – plus so many others, helping behind the scenes back in the UK.
Multiple teams. One goal.
Keeping each other alive.
Oh, and do the field team share their food with me, help collect firewood, and join in tying knots on my rafts?
All the time. We are a team.
The final magic ingredient has been a willingness to risk it all. All in. No questions asked.
The programme started, and grew, from a determination to push the boundaries. Do the impossible. Climb the impassable – eat the inedible.
Of course, there was often a safer, easier way down the waterfall or cliff face. But I rarely took it. That wasn’t my aim. I wanted to show you how to survive when you have no safe options.
And I loved it.
I had learnt a while back that whenever I had succeeded, it had always come about because of total commitment. Heart and soul. No holds barred.
I realized, early on, that this would also be the key to this show.
It’s not rocket science. It’s a lesson as old as the hills: hold back from the tackle and that’s when you get nailed.
This commitment built the show. But I nearly paid for it with my life. Many times.
There have been a multitude of ‘near-death’ moments. None of which I am proud of. The list, though, is long. For old times’ sake, I used to write them down.
Then I gave up when I passed the fiftieth.
Anyway, I don’t like to think about those – they are in the past. Part of the learning process.
Part of what made me stronger.
Nowadays, the show is still crazy, but I manage the risk way better. I use ropes much more, off-camera. I think twice, not once, before I leap. I never did that before. It is called being aware.
Aware of being a husband. Aware of being a dad.
I am proud that I am learning; you only ever get it wrong once.
CHAPTER 109
There has been one further element to Man vs. Wild’s success, and that is its underlying message. I believe it is actually the biggest factor.
If you think about it, at heart, there is such a strong link between survival and life. I mean, we are all in a battle of some sort, aren’t we?
Surviving.
It feels like day by day, sometimes.
But talent, skill and luck are only a part of what carries people through.
A small part.
There is a bigger element that separates the real survivors. It is heart, hope and doggedness. Those are the qualities that really matter.
Ditto in life.
A young kid came up to me in the street a few days ago. He looked me square in the eye, and asked me: ‘If you could tell me one survival message, what would it be?’
I thought about it for a moment. I wanted to give him a decent answer.
Then I saw it very clearly.
‘Smile when it’s raining, and when you’re going through hell – keep going.’
The boy thought for a moment.
Then he looked up at me and said: ‘It rains a lot where I live.’
We all know the feeling.
Maybe he’ll remember the message one day – when he really needs it.
So suddenly here we are.
Six years on.
I genuinely never believed we would film more than six episodes of Man vs. Wild, let alone six seasons.
I mean,