Bear Grylls divided fans with his controversial Christmas message (Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
has been branded “embarrassing” after he caused uproar online when he shared his annual Christmas message.
On Christmas Eve (December 24), the 50-year-old explorer took to social media to share a “quick historical note” about “Maryam (Mary)”.
Taking to X – formerly known as Twitter – he claimed Mary was a Palestinian refugee, explaining: “In these next few days billions of us around the world celebrate the birth of a Middle Eastern refugee who, 2,000 years ago, changed the course of the world forever.
“Let me tell you some of his story. This is just a short extract from near the beginning of the adventure. When Maryam, a young, poor, and no doubt terrified Palestinian girl, gives birth in a run-down animal pen, to a baby who was foretold for hundreds of years.
“Yet she was not alone. And she never would be. Because this was the moment that God Almighty broke into our fallen world in person… To many of us, it is undoubtedly: The Greatest Story Ever Told.”
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Users flooded to the comments to share their fury (Image: ITV)
It’s fair to say his surprising comment divided fans online who flooded to the comments online, with many branding it “disappointing”.
One user penned: “In what sense – historical, archeological, political, religious, geographic, ethnic, literally any sense at all – would Mary have regarded herself as a Palestinian?”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism added: “A quick historical note: ‘Marya’ (Mary) was a Jewish woman from Judea, under Roman rule.
“The religion wasn’t called ‘Palestine’ until 100 years later when the Judeans (Jews) were exiled and Emperor Hadrian renamed it Syroa Palaesina after the Bar Kokhba Revolt to try to serve the Jewish connection to the land.
“A lot of people over the millennia since have believed his propaganda. While Mary’s family fled to Egypt to escape King Herod’s persecution, calling her a ‘Palestinian refugee’ not only imposes modern terminology on ancient history, but completely eradicated her Jewish identity.
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His wife recently urged him to get a health check (Image: PA)
“It’s historical nonsense, with an agenda. If you want to honour her story, tell it properly,” they fumed. A third echoed: “This is so massively disappointing. How could she be Palestinian when Palestine did not exist? Mary was a Jew.”
A fourth chimed in with: “They were not refugees. Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken. Joseph and Mary traveled to Judea, to the town of Bethlehem (the town of David) because Joseph belonged to the house and line of David.”
It comes after Grylls previously opened up about his health after his wife was worried about his unusual diet, insisting that he get checked out.
The environmentalist said doctors told him he has the “heart of a warrior” after he had a full coronary MOT following a daily diet of “six eggs and a steak”.
The TV presenter, who once evangelised about the vegan diet and even wrote a cookbook including his favourite plant-based reciptes, follows a “butter and beef” diet that sees him enjoying red meat daily.
He then told his eight million followers on that he had decided to have a full health check up. He wrote: “I had a full coronary CT scan recently as Shara was worried my cholesterol was so high and that I must have furred arteries as I eat so much grass fed salted butter and saturated beef fat.
“The result was shocking and good (a relief!): zerio inflammation and zero calcium score and the doctor telling me I had the heart of a warrior. So relieved but so happy too.”
After turning his back on his former plant-based diet, Grylly has since admitted he’s now “embarrassed” to have once promoted to his fans.
Inspired by how ancestors survived for millennia, he now eats red meat, blood, bone marrow, as well as salted butter, eggs, fruit, and honey. As well as veg, he avoids processed foods, bread and pasta.