Bear Grylls, the TV action man and former member of the Territorial Army with 21 SAS, had his military career cut short in 1996 due to a potentially fatal parachuting accident in Kenya. Since then, he has built a successful television career with shows like Man vs. Wild and The Island.
However, another dramatic incident nearly ended this career prematurely, according to Bear.
This time, the victim was not Bear himself, but interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. During ‘s Celebrity Bear Hunt, Laurence jumped “into shark-infested waters” from a moving speedboat and got trapped under a floating raft.
He thought he was “having a heart attack” and feared he might die on camera. After being pulled out of the cold water, the 59 year old felt as if he had narrowly escaped death.
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Bear is no stranger to risk – but it was different for the celebrity contestants on his show (Image: Netflix)
A fatal accident would certainly have meant the end of the show, where Bear tracks twelve celebrities, including Shirley Ballas and Lottie Moss, through the jungles of Costa Rica.
Speaking to The Times, the 50 year old adventurer said such an accident would end his entire career, reports .
“If I was to lose sleep on anything, I’d lose sleep on that sort of thing,” he admitted. “If anything ever happens to anyone on one of our shows, is going to survive.”
But, Bear stressed, it would be different in his case: “For me, these sorts of things can be career-ending. You’ve got to keep people alive.”
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The incident could easily have proved fatal (Image: Tom Dymond/Netflix)
It was a close-run thing in more than one case as, alongside Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, former The Saturdays singer Una Healy revealed she’s been left with PTSD-driven “nightmares and aftershocks” after participating in the show, dubbed ” 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 confessed to 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.”
The motley crew of celebrities turned up an unlikely winner (Image: Tom Dymond/Netflix)
“So,” Una continued, “he prepared me for that and I had it. I had a few aftershocks and nightmares and stuff.”
Alongside Laurence, Una, Lottie Moss and Shirley Ballas, a host of celebrities including rugby star Danny Cipriani, rapper Big Zu, and Spice Girl Mel B tested their jungle survival skills against the SAS veteran.
The entire eight-episode series is now available on .