Is Bear Grylls a fake survivalist?

Over the years we have covered a number of celebrity survival television show hosts who traffic in phony and dangerous claims of being some sort of survival expert, but never have we come across a more outrageous fraud than Edward Michael Grylls — A.K.A. Bear Grylls.

When it comes to reality T.V., we all know — at least I hope we all know — there is nothing real about the crap that comes out of the idiot box. So when we first started this site, we debated even talking about these survival shows, that all changed when people started being hurt following the bullshit advice given by a bunch of phonies running around in the woods.

Among the worst of these survival T.V. shows, when it comes to giving dangerous advice and being an outright fraud, is Bear Grylls.

Does Bear Grylls fake his shows?

I don’t want to take to much time on this, because if you really believe the shit he shows is real, this article probably isn’t going to help you. But for those that doubt what I say, here is just a small example of how fake his shows really are. 

Remember, he swears that he stays out there “far from civilization.” Check out this video showing one of the locations that Bear Grylls tried to pass off as a remote area.

Still not convinced? Well just listen to what Mark Weinert, who said he served as a consultant on the show, told The Times of London, “If you really believe everything happens the way it is shown on TV, you are being a little bit naive.” More details from The New York Post:

According to Weinert, while filming in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains — an episode in which Grylls, 33, is seen biting off the head of a snake for breakfast — Grylls actually spent some nights with the show’s crew in a lodge outfitted with television, stone fireplaces, hot tubs and Internet access.

The Pines Resort at Bass Lake is advertised as “a cozy getaway for families” and is a luxurious hotel with its own spa on a lake.

In another instance, where Grylls was supposed to be surviving on a desert island, he was actually in Hawaii and spent nights at a motel, Weinert said.

The same episode had Grylls building a Polynesian-style raft using only materials around him, including bamboo, hibiscus twine and palm leaves for a sail. Weinert said he actually led a team of builders to construct the raft.

It was then dismantled so that Grylls could be shown building it on camera

And then there was the time good ol’ Bear escaped toxic volcanic fumes and had to escape an active volcano. WOW, this guy is amazing!

“Look at this, you can actually see the sulphur dioxide seeping out of these vents,” Bear says during the show. “In high concentrations this gas is a killer.”

Wow, that’s scary… but wait, Sulphur dioxide fumes are colorless. How did he see the gas?

Well, it was really just a smoke machine, and the scary red glow of the molten magma which Bear warned could incinerate him ‘in seconds’ was really just a bunch of burning hot coals to make the scene seem more real.

What does Bear Grylls have to say about being an expert?

Well that kind of depends on when you catch him. But in 2008, when confronted with Weinert’s claims, Gryll’s told BBC “If people felt misled on how the first series was represented, I’m really sorry for that.”

“I’m the person that takes the rap for these things, even though I’m not always involved in the editing side of it,” Grylls said, “but ultimately it is me on screen “The truth is much less exciting – we film these things over six days and, after filming the night stuff, we’re back with a crew in a base camp lodge – whether it’s a tented camp in the Saraha or in Sumatra poncho’d up in the jungle.

“The hotel [can be] four walls but not a roof, or a roof with no walls. “Yes, we had a lot of those but when we’re filming the live night stuff, we’re out,” he added.

Still not convinced?

What about the time he faked a bear attack for his T.V. Show?

By far one of the most absurd examples of Reality Survival TV we have come across was the time Bear Grylls, and the Discovery Channel filmed a show that featured him surviving a bear attack — it was actually a guy in a bear suit!

To be clear, Bear Grylls has ZERO qualification or experience that qualifies or certifies him to be an authority on outdoor survival. He is plain and simply a fraud, who gives dangerous and deadly advice.

So how do I know Survival T.V. Shows are fake?

Well first, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or a survival expert to realize that the crap that comes out of Bear Grylls’ mouth is exactly that: CRAP!

But the second reason is I have experience with these shows in real-life. I have turned down dozens of so-called reality survival shows over the years; I’ve talked to these frauds and the producers who make these shows, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that they are not only fake, they are disgusting!

In fact, one of the first shows I was contacted about was Dual Survival; they even used some of what I talked to them about in the shows. Man am I glad I have some integrity because what a shit show of lawsuits and fake resumes that show turned out to be! After that, I talked to dozens of different networks, producers, and shows. But I quickly realized it wasn’t going to be my show, and my experience was not going to be presented in a way that helped people.

From being asked to fake where I live — hell they offered to make a fake wilderness cabin that I could claim I lived in — to being asked to fake my resume, I just couldn’t live with myself knowing that the show I was going to become famous for was a complete sack of lies! I get why some of these guys do it, hell the fame the money, that must be a tough thing to pass up for some people, but I just couldn’t look my family in the eyes and live that lie!