Why Channing Tatum Goes on Bear Grylls’ Show Every Time He Calls
Actor Channing Tatum has spent the last few years off the big screen. He didn’t appear on-screen in a movie for nearly four years between 2018 and 2021 before popping up in a cameo during Free Guy. But one place Tatum will consistently show up is Running Wild with Bear Grylls. It may seem strange that a celebrated actor would choose to go out into the wilderness multiple times, but Tatum has a rule that he agrees to go on the show anytime Mr. Grylls calls.
Channing Tatum has been on ‘Running Wild with Bear Grylls’ twice
The actor discussed his appearances during the media campaign for The Lost City. During Channing Tatum’s last round of questions in the Wired Autocomplete Interview, he responds about how many times he’s been on Running Wild with Bear Grylls. He’s been on twice explaining that “whenever Bear calls, I know I’m [going to] get to do something I’ve never done before. Bear’s a legend as well”.
Unlike Tatum, his co-star, Sandra Bullock, doesn’t have ambitions to go on the show. “[I] don’t want that kind of entertainment. I like the safety of my own home,” she says. Tatum then says he’d do the show with her, undoubtedly putting their experience making The Lost City to good use in the actual jungle. This would be a tremendous TV episode for viewers, but Bullock still isn’t having it. “Why can’t we just have dinner?”
What did Tatum do during his episodes?
Channing Tatum’s first Bear Grylls episode took him to Yosemite National Park. He and the adventurous host spent 48 hours engaging in activities such as doing backflips into a lake from a helicopter, killing and eating scorpions, and sleeping on perilously thin cliffs. Tatum had some camping experience beforehand, but this was much more extreme. None of what he and Grylls did was planned before arriving in Yosemite.
Tatum explained the exciting tension of realizing what he was in for during a 2014 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I was shocked when he said we were [going to] do a backflip,” he said. “They don’t tell you what it’s going to be. They just take you on this ride, and he says, “Okay, we’re going to do a backflip. And all I’m thinking of is of, you know, the helicopter. We didn’t prep it. We didn’t rehearse or anything. So it was all very, very, very real.”
The second excursion took them to the mountains of Norway. The above clip shows Tatum learning how to make a fire before spelunking into a thin and dark cave structure. He also skydived on his own and climbed a rope up a wet cliff face approximately 100 feet tall. All of this required being in great shape — something Tatum maintains even when he’s not filming.
Tatum works hard to stay in shape
Tatum’s physicality has played a significant role in his entertainment career. He famously spent some time as a stripper before making it as an actor, eventually inspiring the Magic Mike franchise. Even though his job doesn’t always require dancing, he clearly has no qualms about getting naked in the name of art. And Tatum still does a lot of work to keep his abs enviable.
His routine works for him. But while the star keeps up with his exercise and diet, he admits it isn’t a healthy lifestyle for everyone. In preparation for Magic Mike’s Last Dance, Tatum had to push himself, taking on three workouts a day.
