Delbert Shoopman/NBC
NBC’s new adventure reality TV series, Running Wild with Bear Grylls, premieres on July 28.
The six-episode series follows celebrities on a one-on-one adventure with Bear Grylls for 48 hours.
The show has A listers like Zac Efron, Channing Tatum, and Ben Stiller taking on the wild.
Grylls told Men’s Health, “A lot of these guys, Ben and Zac and Tatum, they said to me, “We’d do this even if it wasn’t filmed.” I think they’re country boys at heart. They spend their time doing movies where everything is make-believe.”
Here’s what you need to know about the show’s fearless host.
1. He’s Known for ‘Man vs. Wild’
The former soldier in the British Special Forces started the program to show people how to survive in the wilderness.
Man vs. Wild debuted in 2006, and lasted for seven seasons.
It featured the adventurer accomplishing some highly impressive feats, such as, according to Wikipedia:
…climbing cliffs, parachuting from helicopters, balloons, and planes, paragliding, ice climbing, running through a forest fire, wading rapids, eating snakes, wrapping his urine-soaked t-shirt around his head to help stave off the desert heat, drinking urine saved in a rattlesnake skin, drinking fecal liquid from elephant dung, eating deer droppings, wrestling alligators, field dressing a camel carcass and drinking water from it, eating various “creepy crawlies” [insects], utilising the corpse of a sheep as a sleeping bag and flotation device, free climbing waterfalls and using a bird guano/water enema for hydration.
In the clip above, we witness Grylls killing a snake by biting its neck.
2. He Takes Zac & Chan Into the Wild
Two of the prettiest faces and best bodies in Hollywood rough it up in nature on Running Wild.
Grylls’ first celebrity guest is Zac Efron, and the pair head to the Northeast Appalachian mountain range.
You can see the Neighbors actor’s adventure- and his six pack-in the clip above.
Newsday provides us with this spoiler:
Grylls takes Efron to the Catskills, where worms and bird eggs are on the menu. Efron unloads stories about his life and troubles as a celeb while Grylls listens, nods and tells Efron to smell roadkill to determine whether it’s edible.
On the August 11th episode, Grylls takes Tatum to Yosemite National Park.
Through bonding with the actors, the world famous adventurer saw a vulnerable side in them, one he assures viewers that they will also see.
In a statement, he said that the show, “allows viewers to see inside the hearts and minds of these guests in a very open, honest and vulnerable way, pushing them out of their comfort zones and seeing what they are like in real life when stripped of all the benefits of celebrity.”
3. He Climbed Mt. Everest
According to his website, he’s one of the youngest ever climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest
He told Wanderlust, “Everest changed my life in so many ways – I saw incredible courage and hardship and determination on a daily basis and that always leaves a mark.”
He’s also turned his adventures into a business, and sells his adventure gear on his website.
His collection of knives is very popular.
In fact, according to the manufacturer, the Bear Grylls Ultimate Fixed Blade Knife was the world’s best selling outdoor knife in 2011.
4. He’s the Youngest Ever Chief Scout
Getty
At 34, he was the youngest Chief Scout to ever be appointed.
The high British honor is described as providing, ” inspirational leadership to the Scout Movement in the UK. The public face of Scouting, the Chief Scout ensures that we reach as wide an audience as possible.”
In April of 2013, Grylls joined Kate Middleton at the National Review of the Queen’s Scouts.
According to the Daily Mail, “The event is a day of celebration, bringing together 400 Queen’s Scouts and their invited guests to celebrate the achievements of young people and young adults who have achieved the prestigious award.”
As the Chief, Grylls told the paper about the celebration:
It’s great that so many adults are joining the Scouts, and I am sure the increase has had much to do with the Duchess of Cambridge becoming a Scout volunteer last year.
The Duchess is an incredible role model and she helps us show that Scouting’s not just for boys
5. He’s Real Name is Edward
Bear Grylls launches survival academy in #Chelmsford
http://t.co/QmBJDaLuxd pic.twitter.com/goua38AkVZ
— The Enquirer (@Enquirernews) July 21, 2014
It was his sister who gave him his first nickname.
He told Men’s Health how the semingly appropriate moniker came about:
It’s a nickname, yeah. My real name is Edward. I wasn’t even born a minute and my sister decided it was the most boring name in the world. She was like, “I’m not calling him that.” So she came up with Bear. That’s what I’ve been called ever since I was a little baby.
As he got older and went to school, his classmates gave the active student a new animal-inspired nickname.
He said, “At school, some of the kids started calling me “Monkey,” because I’d climb everything. I’d climb buildings and trees, anything I could find. Between Bear and Monkey, I think I ended up with the better nickname. I remember being 6, and being so upset about my name. I was like, “I wish I had a normal name.” But I learned to love it.”
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Bear Grylls: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know