Bear Grylls' life away from TV including horror accident and 'worst time' he fell in love

Edward Michael Grylls - amended known arsenic Bear - has had an incredibly varied beingness distant from his TV career

Adventurer and TV property Bear Grylls has embarked connected a caller travel with Netflix. He is hunting a twelve celebrities down successful the Costa Rican jungle including Mel B, Joe Thomas, and Boris Becker arsenic portion of endurance show, Celebrity Bear Hunt.

Aside from his daring stunts on-screen, the prima has a varied beingness distant from the TV shows helium fronts. So what much is determination to cognize astir the star?

He was calved Edward Michael Grylls connected June 7, 1974, successful Donaghadee, Co Down, which makes him an Irish citizen, a practice helium proudly claims has been beneficial post-Brexit. He spent his aboriginal years successful Northern Ireland earlier moving to the UK astatine the property of four.

Grylls views his mother, Sarah Ford, arsenic "fully Irish" owed to her upbringing by an Irish mother. His maternal grandmother, Patricia Ford, held the North Down constituency spot arsenic an Ulster Unionist MP, becoming the archetypal pistillate MP from Northern Ireland. His father, Sir Michael Grylls, served arsenic an MP for Surbiton, reports Surrey Live.

Bear earned his nickname from his older sister erstwhile helium was conscionable a week old, and the moniker stuck. He was educated astatine Eton College, wherever helium co-founded a mountaineering club, and graduated with a grade successful Spanish and German from the University of the West of England.

He was portion of the 21 SAS successful the Territorial Army from 1994 to 1997, but his subject travel came to an abrupt halt aft a parachute malfunction during a autumn from 16,000 feet led him to interruption 3 vertebrae. This incidental is connected grounds arsenic 1 of the top falls ever survived without a moving parachute.

Yet, helium bounced backmost astonishingly, climbing Mount Everest astatine the property of 23 conscionable 18 months post-accident, becoming 1 of its youngest conquerors. Prior to scaling caller heights, Bear's idiosyncratic beingness took a crook erstwhile helium met his aboriginal wife, Shara Cannings Knight.

The brushwood happened connected New Year's Eve successful 1998 successful Scotland, rather memorably arsenic helium dashed bare on a formation to retrieve his apparel from the water, reasoning it was the "worst timing successful the world to autumn successful love".

The adventurous mates subsequently welcomed 3 sons: Jesse, Marmaduke, and Huckleberry, bringing them up initially connected a houseboat moored connected the River Thames, implicit with outdoor bathing facilities, a sleeping hammock, and a canoe connected deck. These days, though, the household splits their clip betwixt a swish penthouse astatine the reimagined Battersea Power Station and a secluded land disconnected the seashore of Wales.

Back successful 2001, Bear became the proprietor of Saint Tudwal's Island West, having bought it for £95,000. Located adjacent the Llyn Peninsula and 5 miles from the shore, this 20-acre retreat features a rustic erstwhile lighthouse keepers cottage. Despite lacking mains energy oregon moving water, Bear has declared his affection for land life.

He reminisced: "We've made immoderate astonishing memories surviving determination and spending clip with the boys connected the land implicit the years, and conscionable being capable to person that abstraction and bask nature, has been truly special."

Bear reflected connected his posh pad successful a chat with MailOnline backmost successful 2015, saying: "As a family, we didn't conscionable privation a run-of-the-mill townhouse oregon riverside development, we were attracted to Battersea Power Station due to the fact that it was a accidental to ain a spot of past that we could walk connected down done the family."

"We person moored our houseboat barge successful Battersea for galore years, and are arrogant to support that still, but to beryllium capable to bargain wrong this landmark gathering and ain that tiny portion of London past felt similar a precise peculiar opportunity. It volition marque a precise unsocial home."

Beyond the TV spotlight, Bear holds the rubric of honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College and took connected the relation of youngest Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories starting successful 2015 until 2024. His contributions widen to being an ambassador for The Prince's Trust and receiving an OBE successful 2019.

Celebrity Bear Hunt is present streaming connected Netflix