(Twitter/SharaGrylls)
Bear Grylls is one of the top survivalists in the world, and leads celebrities through dangerous conditions in the hit series Running Wild with Bear Grylls.
In 1998, just 18 months after breaking three vertebrae in a parachuting incident, Grylls became among the youngest people to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. Just a few months before leaving for the climb, he met the woman who would later become his wife, Shara Cannings Knight.
Read on to learn more about the couple.
1. Bear Proposed to His Wife While Skinny Dipping
In an interview with Piers Morgan back in 2014, Bear shared that he met Shara a few months before he left to climb Everest. “It was the worst timing in the world to fall in love because I was up in Scotland. It was the new year, I was training, staying with a friend and climbing everyday.” Bear says that he would spend 10-12 hours a day training for the climb, but as soon as he met Shara, he knew he was interested. “She was cool”, he says.
The couple was only together for a week before Bear left for Everest, and he admittedly thought, “She’s never gonna be there when I come back.” When he did return after three months, his friends warned him not to rush into a relationship with Shara, who had waited for him. Bear, however, says he was too excited and proposed quickly.
And how did he pop the question? The adventurist tells Piers, “I was swimming with no clothes on. I pulled out the ring from my butt cheeks,” he joked, later admitting it was in his hand. Bear says he remembers kneeling on the beach, when a wave came and hit him. “I tried again and in a moment of heavy sedation, she said yes.”
2. The Couple Has Three Boys
Together, the couple has three boys: Jesse (born in 2003), Marmaduke (born in 2006) and Huckleberry (born in 2009).
At their wedding in 2000, they asked guests to give them their best marriage advice, and Bear says the best tip came from a couple who’d been married 50 years. “Never stop holding hands”. Bear says he and Shara have taken this advice to heart and continuously try and follow it.
In an interview with the Telegraph about his family, Bear was asked what his children make of him. He responded:
… they love what I do. When I get home from filming all I want is a cup of tea and a bubble bath, and all they want to do in show me the ants they’ve collected…. The other day, we couldn’t find Huckleberry for about an hour. We searched everywhere and then… we saw his tiny little face poking through the leaves. We took a picture of him grinning, and then we were like, ‘Er… don’t panic’. Another time, the kids were watching television and a promo for Born Survivor came on. In it I was jumping around and stuff and at the end of it my children turned to me and said ‘Papa, what were you thinking?!'”
3. Shara Wrote a Book Called “Marriage Matters” in 2009
In 2009, Shara’s book, “Marriage Matters”, was published. Described as a “sparkling collection of wise adn witty saying on marriage”, the book is a compilation of the quotes the couple received when they married.
According to ODSSF, Shara is also involved in charity work and helps raise money for “charities that encourage young people to overcome some of life’s biggest challenges.”
4. Bear and Shara Enrolled in Marriage Counseling Immediately After Their Wedding
In an article he penned for GQ Magazine, Bear opened up about his marriage to Shara and what makes a marriage last. He shared that they enrolled in a marriage course the year they got married, even though nothing was necessarily wrong. “We figured that if this was the most important thing we were ever going to do, we should do everything we could to stop it breaking in the first place.”
Bear explains that one of the best things the couple learned from counseling was to go on a date night once a week. “It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy. Go for a walk in the rain together, or for dinner, or even the cinema or a picnic. We need to put time aside to spend with one another and focus on what brought us together in the first place. Because togetherness is what it’s all about.”
5. They Split Their Time Between a Home in North Wales and London
Bear Grylls and Shara Cannings Knight attend the Royal World Premiere of ‘Skyfall’ at the Royal Albert Hall on October 23, 2012 in London, England. (Getty)
According to the Daily Mail, the Grylls split their time between London and a small island in North Wales off the coast of St. Tudal Island that they own.
In a 2012 interview with the Telegraph, Bear was asked how he manages to balance his family life and job. He explained, “It’s always a difficult road to walk. Nobody wants to end up super rich and famous – but divorced. I’m always clear on that and try to stay on the right side of the line. I don’t always get it right, I have a very lovely wife who will tell me when I don’t. So good communication is important. But I’ve got three young boys so I try to work during term time, so when they’re in school, I’m at work, and in the holidays, I try to spend as much time off as possible.”
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Bear & Shara Grylls: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know