This the last day of our Bear Grylls contest. See the contest rules at the bottom and enter to with a Bear Grylls’ Signature Ultimate Multi-Tool.
If you’re a Bear Grylls fan, you’re likely an avid viewer of Man vs Wild, where Bear battles the wilderness while exhibiting his top-notch survival skills. The show features a number of incredible scenes, from Bear lassoing wild mustangs to traversing a lava-filled volcano. However, in recent years, critics have identified a number of inconsistencies in the program, leading some to allege that Bear is misleading his viewers.
What’s the Man vs Wild Controversy About?
Critics of the show start by pointing to the premise as being contrived. Most Man vs Wild episodes consist of Bear parachuting into a harsh climate, surviving for a number of days, and then eventually venturing to safety. Many say the show is framed to make viewers believe that Bear is alone in the wilderness, when in fact he consistently has aid from a camera crew.
In addition, prior to entering a new setting, it has been revealed that Bear and his team perform weeks of recognizance, briefing Bear on possible locations where he can peform survival skills.
“I get a really good briefing before we go,” Bear said. “I know there’s a big river there, there’s going to be a great cliff climb there, there’s loads of snakes in those rocks, watch out for an alligator. So, I do have a good idea of 80 percent of what’s going to happen.”
Does Bear stay in hotels?
There have also been allegations, which are fairly substantiated, that Bear sometimes stays at hotels during survival missions. According to a 2007 article in the Daily Mail, Bear stayed at the Pines Resort Hotel in the Sierra Nevada mountains during an episode in which he bit the head off a snake and boasted that he was living on “just a water bottle, a cup and a flint for making fire.”
In an additional episode, where Grylls was supposedly stuck on a desert island, he was actually on a Hawaiian archipelago, where he retired to a motel at night.
Faking Scenes
There have also been two allegations that Bear faked scenes in his shows. In an episode where Bear is supposedly lassoing wild mustangs, it was revealed that the mustangs were actually tame animals from a nearby ranch.
One of the most controversial episodes involves Bear traversing an active volcano in Hawaii. According to reporting by the Times in London, smoke generators were used off-screen to make smoke fumes, and molten magma was supplemented by burning hot coals that were brought in by the production team.
A fan site of Survivorman, a survival show that features Canadian bushman Les Stroud, posted a video debunking the episode (shown below).
Lastly, a survival consultant who worked on Man vs Wild revealed that in one episode, the production crew built a raft, which Bear would later claim on camera to have constructed himself.
Response from Bear and Man vs Wild
Few , if any of the allegations made by Bear’s critics have been denied by Bear or the Discovery Channel, which airs the show. Instead, Bear and the network have said that the show never claimed that Bear was unassisted in his survival techniques and issued the following statement.
“The programme explicitly does not claim that presenter Bear Grylls’ experience is one of unaided solo survival. For example, he often directly addresses the production team, including the cameraman, making it clear he is receiving an element of back-up.”
The Discovery Channel also said that future episodes would have a disclaimer at the beginning stating that Grylls had assistance, and since the controversy, Grylls states on camera when he receives help.
Public Response
Though some viewers felt betrayed by revelations that parts of Man vs Wild was faked, the controversy did little to affect the shows popularity. It still attracts hundreds of millions of viewers across the world.
Win Bear’s Knife, Get Tough
We’re currently giving away a Bear Grylls’ signature 12-component ultimate multi-tool and to win all you need to do is advise Bear on how to get out of the following situation, which, considering his reputation, is totally realistic.
Bear is standing on a rock in the middle of the Amazon River wearing nothing but camouflage briefs. On one bank there is a nest full of anacondas. On the other, there is a vicious-looking jaguar. The river is full of piranhas.
Bear has possession of the following things: a coconut, a monkey, two Budweiser bottles and 10 palm leaves, in addition to his Ultimate Multi-Tool with 12 components. Give Bear advice on how to escape to safety by entering your answer in the comment field below.
You must submit your entry (and you can only submit one) prior to Friday 10 p.m. Central Time. Then, we’ll pick our top three favorites and publish them on the blog for readers to vote on. Be creative. Be imaginative. Good luck!
