Bear Grylls survival show accused of 'fakery'

originally posted by: Komodo

originally posted by: Rob48
a reply to: Komodo

wow.. it's ,like you didn't even read it source !!!!! and cherry picked ..

Not sure what you mean by that. I have no brief for Bear Grylls and have never watched the show but I did happen to read the show website some weeks ago and remembered reading the stuff about food and water supplies.

So the article which claims they were concealing that fact is obviously not true. The details are right there on the official Channel 4 website for the series!

I....
linked the source and the entire article LOL..

Yes... what's your point? I am saying it is a non story because all these "revelations" were made perfectly clear before the series began.

It's a TV show, not a life or death situation.

I'd rather watch a Piers Morgan diatribe on banning guns ... than watch Bear Grills (yeah I know how his name's spelled. The spell checker did it and I'm leaving it that way.)

The debunking clip of him in Hawaii next to a busy road clinched it for me.

Im sure some parts are set up for the show but I don't belive it's all fake, I watched the series where he was in the French Forign Legion for a month, seemed pretty real.

originally posted by: NeoSpace
Im sure some parts are set up for the show but I don't belive it's all fake, I watched the series where he was in the French Forign Legion for a month, seemed pretty real.

That's the whole idea behind "reality" shows; to make it look real. It seldom is....

Yeah who didn't know this already? Watch a real survivalist, Les Stroud! Now he's the man, he can play the hell out of that harmonica too lol...

Survivorman the show where the guy supposedly carries all of his camera equipment with him and is alone. Well in the first season at a point in the show you see a shadow of a cameraman on a boom move across the ground.


Dude it all has an element of fakery.

originally posted by: jheated5
Yeah who didn't know this already? Watch a real survivalist, Les Stroud! Now he's the man, he can play the hell out of that harmonica too lol...

Aaaaand he's his own camera man -- no crew to help support him.

He's actually done some specials that gave some really good urban survival in the event of a natural disaster. Stroud seems to honestly want to share life-saving techniques and lessons with people.

I only skimmed through the thread, but I used to live around the Big Bend Texas area in the Chihuahuan Desert, and Grylls went there on an episode. The producers asked some locals to show them around or something of that nature. I remember one of the people who helped out said that in between shots of him walking around in the desert they'd hop in a van and drive to the next location, and give him water and everything in the van.
I don't know how true that is, but I've never really believed that what happens on the show is real.

originally posted by: Grimpachi
Survivorman the show where the guy supposedly carries all of his camera equipment with him and is alone. Well in the first season at a point in the show you see a shadow of a cameraman on a boom move across the ground.


Dude it all has an element of fakery.

Really? Your evidence is a shadow? Have you ever watched the show? He's not Bear who gets handed energy bars and always looks like he's in top shape... He shows real fatigue from not eating, his feet are all jacked up from walking in unclean water. He's fake but somehow Bear always comes out of his show always looking squeaky clean... puhleeze..

originally posted by: MystikMushroom

originally posted by: jheated5
Yeah who didn't know this already? Watch a real survivalist, Les Stroud! Now he's the man, he can play the hell out of that harmonica too lol...

Aaaaand he's his own camera man -- no crew to help support him.

He's actually done some specials that gave some really good urban survival in the event of a natural disaster. Stroud seems to honestly want to share life-saving techniques and lessons with people.

Actually he had a crew with a sound recordist/boom op and extra cameramen as well on most of the episodes.
Here is a list of his production team and crew.

www.imdb.com...

a reply to: jheated5

You must really have a man crush.

You ask

Have you ever watched the show?

Err...yeah like the time I just explained where you can see the camera boom shadow move across the ground in the first season.

Believe that or not I couldn't care less but it was there. I remember jumping up going holly [snip] did you see that. Rewinding it and watching a few times. Laughing my arse off.

When I say camera boom I mean a shadow of a guy sitting on a moving platform with a big old camera like in the movies.

a reply to: Grimpachi

Of course I admire the guy, he gives some real good survival tips! Shown me more than a few ways to make drinkable water too! Of course he has a camera crew, they drop him off the first day afterall, then after that he goes off on his own and the camera crew takes nature shots and edits it into the show sometimes. I'm sure he has people on standby too, just in case he gets in a real dire situation but not there camping out with him or anything..

a reply to: jheated5

Look I have no idea if he is actually alone or not. Only he and the camera crew and maybe production actually know. However I know what I saw and he was at a point midway into the show so.....


Anyway I did find the shows entertaining either way. There is no business like show business.

Many seem to be missing the point of these kind of shows, yeah they might cheat every now and then, but are the messages and tips they give fake?

When Bear shows how to make a snow pylon so he can climb down a cliff, is that fake? Or is it genuine advice?

Seriously, get over yourselves, it is entertainment but also has useful information.

Not long after this guy first started getting air time it was known that he was a massive fraud. I distinctly remember the one where he claimed to be in the middle of nowhere, away from civilization, and he was right in the midst of it. I have heard similar claims against Survivorman, but I have seen absolutely nothing that suggests anything about that show is faked. The only thing would be the fact that he has a means to communicate with his crew in an emergency, but he never really made a secret of this fact.

There are tons like this. He has always been a fake and even his friends on G4 said he was from ages ago. The only reason he is still on TV is because he drinks his own piss... a lot.

Just do a search on youtube. One of his shows is filmed right outside a hotel.

Can't even use his real name.

Actually ever since like 4 yrs ago, he has disclaimer at the start of the show, this is "what to do in the situation and no way actual footage" or something like that.

The stuff he eats and drinks are real(but he also has food with him at camp where the show consultants reside).

he also has local expert with him alongside the camera guy, he consults with him before attempting to jump a waterfall or cross a bridge... etc

edit: i actually feel bad for people that thought any TV shows are real... even from the first episode, i always knew it can;t be 100% real, there are others near him, even if he is the only one in the shot... i mean its common sense to assume the camera guy might have water with him and other snacks or also first aid, since he is not the one doing the survival.. chances are they shares their food sometimes.

Its dumb reaction from people "omg i would never thought this was fraud!!"

What worry's me is BG is ex SAS, they are highly trained killers and very good at it ( not very good at survival), so why is this trained killer head of the boy scouts ?

a reply to: Komodo

For some reason I didn't think this was new news. It is according to the date, however I remember hearing that Bear Grylls was fake a few years ago.

Here's the link I was talking about, it was from 2008:
BBC 2008 link

Granted, it has to do with a different show (I think) but it's along the same vein. I'm going to say I'm not surprised by the new information based on the 2008 information.

originally posted by: rusblued9217
Watch it before you judge it, it's a pretty entertaining show & social experiment.



I would absolutely LOVE to see celebrities do this, abandoned on an island with a rubber pool, the clothes they're wearing, some sun tan lotion and 1 day of survival training.



Have to source freshwater & find all food, see how many celebs would last.

But at the end of the day will the celebs get to spend the night in a hotel room like Bears admitted to doing?