Bear Grylls feared one moment on Netflix's Celebrity Bear Hunt would be 'career ending'
TV action man Bear Grylls served in the Territorial Army with 21 SAS until a potentially-deadly parachuting accident in Kenya ended his military career in 1996.
Since then, he’s carved out a lucrative career in television, with his shows such as Man vs. Wild and The Island. But that career also came close to being brought to a sudden end by a dramatic accident, Bear says.
On this occasion, though, the victim was not the Eton-educated adventurer himself, but interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. As he took part in Netflix’s Celebrity Bear Hunt, Laurence jumped “into shark-infested waters” from a moving speedboat.
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In the confusion that followed, Laurence was left trapped beneath a floating raft. He recalls how he thought he was “having a heart attack” and believed in that moment that he might die there, in front of the cameras.
After being dragged from the chilly waters, the bedraggled 59-year-old said he felt as if he had “swerved a big one”.
A fatal accident would undoubtedly have spelled the end of the show, in which Bear stalks twelve celebrities, such as Shirley Ballas and Lottie Moss, through the jungles of Costa Rica.
The 50-year old adventurer told The Times an accident on this scale would spell the end of his entire career.
“If I was to lose sleep on anything, I’d lose sleep on that sort of thing,” he said. “If anything ever happens to anyone on one of our shows, Netflix is going to survive.
"For me, these sorts of things can be career-ending. You’ve got to keep people alive.”
It was a close-run thing in more than one case. As well as Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s terrifying moment, former Saturdays singer Una Healy says she’s been left suffering from PTSD-driven “nightmares and aftershocks” after taking part in the show that has been branded “I’m a Celebrity on steroids.”
“He actually prepared us for the outside world afterwards, to get back to reality...I did experience a mild form of PTSD,’” the 43-year-old star told The Sun.
“And he said that can happen. It’s very natural because you’re coming back into your natural environment. But you’ve adapted to this whole new way of life."
“So," Una added, "he prepared me for that and I had it. I had a few aftershocks and nightmares and stuff.”
Along with Laurence, Una, Lottie Moss and Shirley Ballas, a wide range of celebs pitted their jungle survival skills against the 50-year-old SAS veteran, including rugby star Danny Cipriani, rapper Big Zu, and Spice Girl Mel B.
The entire eight-episode show is on Netflix now.
