Edward Michael Grylls, commonly known as Bear Grylls, is a British businessman, TV presenter, writer, and adventurer.
He first captured the attention of people after embarking on a couple of adventures. Then, Grylls became extremely popular for his TV series “Man vs. Wild”.
In addition to that, Grylls is also involved in a lot of wilderness survival TV series in the United States and the United Kingdom. This includes “The Island with Bear Grylls” and “Running Wild with Bear Grylls”.
At age 35, he was also appointed the youngest-ever Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories in July 2009. He also held it for a second term in 2015.
Bear Grylls Early Life
Edward Michael Grylls was born in London, England on June 7, 1974. He is the son of Sarah Ford and Sir Michael Grylls, a conservative politician.
Grylls has an elder sister named Lara Fawcett. She was the one who gave Grylls the nickname “Bear” when he was still 1-week old.
Grylls came from a family with a strong background in cricketing. His great-great-grandfather William Augustus Ford and grandfather Neville Ford were both 1st-class cricketers.
At the age of 4, his family moved to the Isle of Wight. Grylls grew up in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland.
Grylls’ father taught him how to sail and climb at an early age. He also took up skydiving when he was a teenager and earned a second black belt in Shotokan Karate.
Grylls went to Eaton House, Ludgrove School, and Eton College. He was a member of the first group of students who started the mountaineering club in their school.
Grylls studied German and Spanish at the University of London and the University of West of England. In 2002, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Hispanic studies.
After he graduated, he went mountain hiking in the Himalayan mountains in Sikkim and West Bengal.
Personal Life
In 2000, Grylls got married to Shara Cannings Knight. They have three children, all of which are males. Their kids are named Huckleberry, Marmaduke, and Jesse.
From 1994 to 1997, Grylls served in the British Army reserves. He was a trooper trained in climbing, survival, parachuting, explosives, winter warfare, desert warfare, and unarmed combat.
Grylls was stationed two times in North Africa as a survival instructor. Unfortunately, he ended up his time in the Army reserves due to an accident in Kenya involving free-fall parachuting.
During the parachuting, Grylls’ parachute did not open. He broke 3 vertebrae because of the accident.
As part of their weekly practice missions, Grylls left his 11-year-old son in August 2015 on Saint Tudwal’s Island along the North Wales coast as the tide approached.
This left him to be rescued by the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution). Fortunately, the kid was unharmed. However, the RNLI criticized Grylls for the stunt.
According to the crew, Grylls should not involve his kid with that kind of stunt.
Real Estate
Grylls bought an extremely luxurious mansion in 2015 at the Battersea Power Station site. The house used to be a cottage for the former lighthouse keeper. It’s also 100 years old.
The house is around 650 feet wide and 2,000 feet long. According to reports, the house was worth $8 million when he bought it.
Before purchasing the mansion, Grylls and his family lived in a houseboat complete with an outdoor bath, a hammock, and a canoe.
Bear Grylls Career
After serving in the Army reserves and recovering from the accident, Grylls achieved his life-long dream of climbing Mount Everest.
Grylls became one of the youngest people to climb the tallest mountain on May 16, 1998. Because of this, he earned a spot in the Guinness Book of Records.
Furthermore, Grylls led a couple of expeditions. This includes an expedition that was meant to raise money for the Lifeboat Institution in 2000.
For around one month, Grylls led a team to circumnavigate the British Isles on Jet Skis. A couple of years later, Grylls led 5 individuals to cross the North Atlantic Ocean using a rigid inflatable boat.
Grylls also set a new world record in 2007 for the highest open-air formal dinner party. He was with a mountaineer named David Hempleman Adams and the leader of the Royal navy Freefall Parachute Display Team, Alan Veal. The trio flew 25,000 feet using a hot-air balloon.
In 2007, Grylls went paramotoring over the Himalayas. He also achieved the longest indoor freefall in 2008 and journeyed to Antarctica in the same year. In 2010, Grylls went on the Northwest Passage Expedition.
Other Endeavors
Aside from his great expeditions, Grylls hosts a popular TV series called “Born Survivor: Bear Grylls”. However, the TV show changed its name later on to “Man vs. Wild”.
The show is extremely educational. It features different feats and stunts by Grylls. The purpose of the show is to teach people how to survive if they find themselves in treacherous and unfavorable places.
In addition to that, Grylls also wrote a couple of books. This includes “Born Survivor: Bear Grylls”, “Facing the Frozen Ocean”, and “Facing Up the Kid Who Climbed Everest”. In 2012, he also wrote an autobiography called “Mud, Sweat, and Tears”.
How Much is Bear Grylls Worth
Bear Grylls is already an extremely popular celebrity. He has a long and successful career. He even had a couple of successful documentaries, such as Running Wild with Bear Grylls, Born Survivor, and Man vs. Wild.
Grylls has done all of these amazing performances to achieve superstar status and establish a career. Because of his success, Bear Grylls has a net worth of around $25 million as of 2022.
Aside from his documentaries, Grylls has also been invited on several television talk shows.