Bear Grylls’ Net Worth and What He’s Been Doing Since ‘Man vs. Wild’
There was a time when the appropriately-named Bear Grylls was practically synonymous with adventurous outdoor-centered reality TV.
As fans’ taste for increasingly adrenaline-filled TV shows continues, it’s worth wondering just what happened to the reality star since his show Man vs. Wild went off the air. Fans have been noticing his absence from the screen.
It turns out the Bear Grylls has stayed fairly busy, but his lower-profile projects haven’t made quite the splash that his more flashy work did.
Bear Grylls loves the rush of the outdoors
Bear Grylls was born Michael Edward Grylls in 1974 in London. He didn’t adopt his outdoorsy nickname for his television persona, however. It was a nickname given to him by his older sister when he was only a week old.
Whether he grew to fit the name or his sister glimpsed the adventurous spirit within when he was just an infant, the nickname more than stuck as he rose to fame. Grylls’ love for the outdoors started at a very young age. He joined the Cub Scouts in the 1980s and focused on climbing and sailing, skills that would later feature heavily in his reality TV series.
In 1987, Grylls joined the UK Special Forces Reserve and was trained in combat survival. During a freak parachuting accident over South Africa, Grylls was severely injured in 1996. He broke his spine in three places and was told he would possibly never walk again. Not one to let a barrier deter him, Grylls climbed the “unclimbable” Ama Dablam summit less than a year later. Grylls continued to demonstrate his thrill-seeking personality by taking on record-breaking feats that pitted him against nature.
Bear Grylls broke into the entertainment world
It wasn’t until 2003 that Grylls’ personal feats of endurance and persistence helped him land in the spotlight. He landed a role in a commercial that featured him climbing Mount Everest in 2003.
In 2005, Grylls appeared alongside eleven others who took on the challenge of the French Foreign Legion’s notoriously difficult training in the Sahara. The televised experience helped launch him into the reality star he would soon become.
Man vs. Wild, the reality show that made Bear Grylls a household name, premiered in 2006. For seven seasons, Grylls put his body and mind to the test with challenge after challenge.
All the while, fans watched from the comfort of their own homes as Grylls battled the unthinkable elements of the wild. The extreme survival skills and the daring feats helped set him apart from other reality TV series.
What has Bear Grylls been doing?
Since Man vs. Wild went off the air in 2011, many fans are wondering what happened to Grylls. While his projects might not have quite the high profile that the show did, he has been busy and staying true to his adventurous spirit. Besides his reality TV work, Grylls has been writing.
His works include a series of children’s books titled Mission Survival and some thrillers aimed at adult audiences. He also reprised his reality TV show for an experimental interactive series called You vs. Wild on Netflix.
Perhaps most indicative of where Grylls’ passion lies, he started a Survival Academy where he trains other would-be survivalists in the art of his craft. It seems that his lower profile is intentional, and he shies away from interviews.
Just because we don’t see as much of Grylls as we used to doesn’t mean he hasn’t been successful. These many projects have helped Grylls build up a considerable fortune.
With an estimated net worth of $25 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, and a reputation for fiscally responsible choices, Grylls can afford to be selective about what projects he tackles and how he spends his time. Apparently, a lot of that is spent in the comfort of his island hideaway and in the company of his family.
