Wanted: Your questions for Bear Grylls. Why: We’re sitting down with the Man vs. Wild host tomorrow when he’s in town to promote his role as a Distinguished Instructor at Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Academy, “the world’s premier institution for the education anddissemination on the study of being interesting” or, as I like to call it, “one hell of a marketing campaign.” Grylls’ online course, “Survival in the Modern Era”, went live today. The five-part tongue-in-cheek web series teaches urbanites valuable skills in commuting, ensuring personal safety, eating (rat? with mint apparently), overcoming obstacles, and making an entrance. It features a theme song that is half Mission: Impossible and half Priceline (Ne-go-ti-a-tor!), and is guaranteed to delight fans of hearing the word “heli.” I think my favorite is “Making an Entrance”: We get a butt shot, some of the best impromptu high bar work since Kurt Thomas in Gymkata, and Bear donning the tux that, in my dreams, he’s wearing for our 9:30 a.m. chat.
Submit your questions, and I’ll make sure Bear hears the best of the best. They don’t have to be Most Interesting, just interesting. I, for example, am dying to know what the plan was to get Will Ferrell down that 100-ft. drop if Ferrell had succeeded in lowering Grylls first during their special Men vs. Wild episode. Also, why did he bring a heat-absorbing black T-shirt into the Sahara that time? Because he knew he’d end up peeing on it and wearing it around his head to stay cool, and that survival technique wouldn’t have looked pretty on a lighter hue? If you need more inspiration than that, catch Grylls on Letterman tonight or read his highly informative 2008 Q&A with EW’s Dan Snierson. An excerpt:
Would you rather cross a slow-moving river that contains piranhasand candiru [the tiny, parasitic fish that supposedly swim up yoururethra while you're peeing in the water] or violent rapids thatcontained no scary fish?
The fast one is probably moredangerous. Only certain piranhas will attack humans, and only whenthere’s real limited food source. As for those candiru, I’d go throughthe river and not pee while I’m crossing it. And keep my pants on.








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Bear, if you make a non-predatory attack against me, can I keep you from mauling me by playing dead, or is this a fallacy?
I wanna know if there has been any specific decision he sort of kinda wish he hadn’t done (not necessarily regret) like for example: was that small amount of honey worth it getting stung by that one bee, and did he knew before hand that he was apparently allergic? It’s so one of my fave moments of the series. Is it one of his too?
I know, too many questions in one paragraph, sorry.
Question for Bear: If you were stuck in the wild and were allowed to take one modern technology with you, what would it be? Ex, cell phone, camera, etc.
Also, what was your least favorite thing to eat out of everything you have eaten in all your episodes that you filmed?
Bear, if I asked a ridiculously long question that involved bats, mountains, tarantulas, urine, feces, swimming through bogs, climbing redwoods, swinging from jungle vines, scaling cliffs, diving from the top of waterfalls, camels, sandstorms, dehydration, muscular dystrophy, organ smugglers, scorpions, crocodiles, setting yourself on fire, dodging avalanches, swarms of locusts, malnutrition, vast tundras, Arctic temperatures, vultures, cranky elephants, poison ivy, poison oak, poison piranhas, psychedelic frogs, infections, blisters, breaking rocks, making tools, drinking tea, infiltrating sleeper cells, joining a sewing circle, killing small game, eating the inedible, befriending velociraptors, impersonating wildebeests, staying awake for 72 straight hours, mosquitoes, blood loss, decapitation, defenestration, palm fronds, make-shift shelters, Easter egg hunts, lion, tigers, and bears, would you answer the question or just assume these were the ramblings of a crazy person?
How much fun was it really hanging out with Will Ferrell? That episode looked awesome yet scary.
Bear, if you could give Will Ferrell an animal nickname based on your experience with him, what would it be?
Bear, could you please explain the Dos Equis ad campaign to me? Why does the most interesting man in the world tell his friends to “stay thirsty?” Is he admitting that Dos Equis does not satisfy thirst when consumed? Is he simply hoping that we stay thirsty so that we may potentially imbibe more Dos Equis? Does “Become statiated, my friends” not roll off the tongue?
To Bear: This may sound a little awkward but do you get a silent thrill everytime you get to take your clothes off in front of the camera? Because it seems like a regular occurance on your show and you can say its for survival purposes but still, is it exciting to think that the whole world has seen your butt cheeks? Just curious.
When will new episodes of Man vs.Wild start?
I was wondering if you are going to do more MEN vs wild? I think taking celebrities and having them do what you do would be highly entertaining! Of course not all of them will be as good natured as Will Ferrell!
Also, I think a crossover show with Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs would be fantastic! What do you think about that? Could you handle some of the stuff he does? And do you think he could survive in the wild with you?
PS. come to montana…lost of open land to use on a show! ppl get lost in Yellowstone all the dang time!
Bear, is the numebr of Hammer Pants Dance flashmobs that you’ve taken part in over or under 4?
What food do you most look forward to eating after you return from and adventure? Like when you’re out there eating god knows what bug, what do you crave??
Don’t do anymore MEN VS wild. You don’t need the baggage, you are all we need to see out there. Now, my question don’t you ever want to give your camera crew proper credit, or any screen time? They have it as bad as you do out there, they should get some credit, right? Or are they just shy?
Did you really sleep in a hotel a couple of nights while filming some of the past “Man vs. Wild” episodes, even though you made viewers believe you were sleeping outside in the…WILD? Or did Survivorman put that info out into the public domain to make you look like a cheater?
So which episodes did you REALLY stay out there three whole days?
Bear – Have you ever been out on one of your shoots & realized it was a BIG mistake for everyone involved, and just pulled the plug, said “OK, time to quit & go home, guys!” Also, your wife seems pretty supportive, but she must see the footage of some of the stuff you do and give you holy heck afterwards for taking such risks. Do you watch the show together & what’s her reaction? Do you let your older sons watch?
How do you prepare yourself mentally and physically before filming an episode? Do you spend a lot of time outdoors with your children? Are they aware of what you do?
Why don’t we see your breath in Siberia even though you keep saying it is -30/-40 degrees? The average temperature in southern Siberia (where you were) in mid to late November (when you were there) averages 10-20 degrees ABOVE zero, how do you account for the extremely low temperature during your time there? Seems pretty obvious to me that you were exaggerating to make your situation seem more extreme, is that true?
Mandi- Is this going to be a legitimate interview with Bear where you will ask about some of the many controversies surrounding Bear Grylls? For example the confusion regarding his military service (he was in the Territorial Army not the Special Forces) or why they (Bear and Giles) told everyone that they were going to attempt to fly OVER Everest and then claimed they had to change their plan at the last minute even though it was later revealed that the permits they received in advance were for the route they took and there was never any intention of getting anywhere near the summit of Everest. Or is this just going to be another fluff interview so that Bear can promote himself and continue to mislead his fans?
When you’re eating some raw meat from a dead carcass that you happened to find lying around, is your camera crew intentionally eating a bag of Cheetos or something in front of you to make you jealous?
I’d like Bear to tell us why he won’t clear up the misconception surrounding his show. Many people actually believe he is traveling through the wilderness from point A to point B when the reality is he just films his stunts at one location then takes a ride with the crew to the location of the next scene. I’m from South Dakota and can say that the episode he filmed there was not at all as it seemed. He was never far from a road; the pool of “unknown depth” he jumped into was actually a popular swimming hole called Hippie Hole (look it up on YouTube), a 5 minute walk from a road. The scenes were not filmed in the order that they were shown (check out the weather changing back and forth). The buffalo were actually part of the herd in Custer State Park. And the place he started (the Needles, near Mt Rushmore) was about 90 miles from the place he claimed to finish (east end of 240, the first N-S road near the West end of the Badlands) with several major roads in between (including highway 79, a high traffic 4 lane divided highway). Are we really supposed to believe he traveled that distance on foot, through the backcountry, in just a few days?
where you stay my friend want to meet you bear grylls