Sorted Special: The Bear Grylls interviews
Long read
Sorted Special: The Bear Grylls interviews
By Val Fraser
This Sorted Special focuses on three interviews with longstanding friend of Sorted Magazine, adventurer and survival expert, Bear Grylls OBE. Sorted Magazine was launched by our founder and editor, the late Steve Legg, at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast in 2007 and it was around that time when Bear Grylls got on board with Steve’s vision and became an ongoing faithful supporter and contributor to the magazine.
Grylls may be one of the youngest Britons to climb Everest, but by my reckoning, and I’m happy to be corrected, he holds another important record. He’s the only person to have featured on the front cover of the Sorted print magazine three times - beating Alice Cooper who featured just twice! And yes, feel free to use that snippet of Sorted trivia in your next pub quiz!
Needless to say, all of us at Sorted are bursting with pride over Bear’s many achievements, but we’re especially proud of his latest project – a thriller based on the life of Jesus called The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Val Fraser is a trained journalist with over 14 years’ experience working on staff in various demanding media environments. She has authored/edited thousands of articles including news, travel and features. Val has authored/contributed to ten non-fiction books. She began writing for Sorted in 2020 as a columnist and feature writer. In 2022 Steve Legg appointed her as Digital Editor with editorial responsibility for the Sorted Magazine website. In January 2025 she became Editor of Sorted Digital online magazine.
Sam Hailes interviews Bear Grylls
Sam Hailes, journalist and Editor of Premier Christianity magazine, recently conducted an exclusive interview with Bear Grylls. Sam’s write-up featured in their print magazine and the audio version was broadcast on both Premier Christian Radio and the Premier Profile Podcast. At the start of this exclusive interview Grylls paid tribute to his beloved Mum before going on to unpack his excitement over the release of his latest book The Greatest Story Ever Told. He spoke enthusiastically about the well known followers of Jesus who feature in the book and his intense experience of writing this story.
Speaking about enjoying his childhood outdoors, Grylls said: “I knew there was something out there beyond me, something amazing out there . . . I could feel it” he goes on to explain “my grandfather had a really beautiful faith”.
The two men had a really meaningful, open dialogue about life and faith. It’s a lovely easy-going conversation and well worth a listen. The simplest way to hear their conversation is to download the Premier Plus app and search for The Profile or register with Premier here: The Premier Profile Interviews
John Eldredge interviews Bear Grylls
Seasoned author, story teller and wild man in his own right, John Eldredge, had a heart to heart, very relaxed 45 minute conversation with Bear Grylls. John was very chilled and authentic and had a gentle pastoral, fatherly approach. He drew on the similarities between both men and chatted about raising three sons. While the conversation was obviously public, listening to them kicking things around felt very much like eavesdropping on a private conversation. John was so curious about Grylls as a person, as a family man, as a man of faith and as a writer.
Speaking about his faith Grylls told John: “It’s hard to describe . . . at heart I don’t know, beyond the fact that it’s beautiful, and it’s full of light and it’s empowering and it helps me stand when I feel weak and it’s light to a dark path and strength through a failing body . . .”
Speaking about his new book The Greatest Story Ever Told Grylls said: “. . . It’s an Everest of another level for me . . . it’s my best effort!” Hearing John Eldredge describe Grylls’ book, it seemed clear to me that this author has drawn upon his own very real lived experiences and understanding of adventure, danger and risk. Speaking about The Greatest Story Ever Told John enthused: “It’s very readable, it’s very inviting . . . I’m really stoked to tell everyone about your book!” Listen to John’s interview here: Wild at Heart Podcast
Steve Legg interviews Bear Grylls (2022)
What follows is the entirety of an in-depth interview conducted by our Founding Editor, the late Steve Legg. It was first published in the December 2022 issue of Sorted print magazine.
Steve Legg (SL): Where does your passion for adventure and travel spring from?
Bear Grylls (BG): As a kid, I was never very brilliant at the normal stuff at school and certainly wasn’t ever very cool, but I always knew what I loved. For me it was about being outside with my dad climbing or making stuff, and endlessly getting in and out of scrapes trying to do adventures at home in the Isle of Wight where I was brought up, and often the adventures going wrong, such as crossing the harbour at low tide through the mud and getting stuck. But I learnt lessons often through failure. That was how it all started . . .
SL: Which person has had the biggest impact on your life, and why?
BG: My late father was a former Commando in the Royal Marines, and a climber, and was always such a big inspiration to me. He taught me to survive and climb from a very young age. He also showed me that it was OK to have big dreams and that to fail a few times is essential to any success. We are taught at school that success is about grades or talent. But those things have limited value if they are all you have. The rewards in life will tend instead to go to the tenacious and the determined.
SL: Is it important for young people to embrace fear and risk?
BG: Fear, and to a certain extent risk, are always going to be part of our lives, for everyone, myself included, but it is there to keep us on our toes and help us perform. I’ve learnt that the way to manage fear and to turn it into positive energy is to embrace it and keep doing the scary stuff every day. Then we get familiar with it and begin to be able to control it, and like with any muscle, our ability to harness it and use that fear becomes stronger with use. That’s why adventure is so powerful, we’re constantly faced with new and scary problems to master. Experience has taught me not to be afraid of risk, but that danger can teach us all so much. Risk stretches us and that is how we grow. Struggle and risk develop strength. Only when we take calculated risks can we learn the skills to overcome, and we then become truly empowered. But you’ve also got to be smart, you can only get it wrong once.
SL: What scares you?
BG: So many things. One of them being social functions. I get really nervous at cocktail parties or social situations where it seems like there’s no escape route.
SL: The first time you put yourself up for 21 SAS Selection, you failed. How devastating was that, and were you tempted to gives up?
BG: As I always say, you’ve got to learn from your failures. Not passing the first time made me more determined not to give up and to go back and try that little bit harder. I only passed by the skin of my teeth the second time but then again, that is the only way anyone passes.
SL: In 1996, when you were just 21, you broke three vertebrae on an SAS training exercise in Zambia, when your parachute failed to deploy, spending the next year in rehab. Did your mental health suffer during those dark times?
BG: For sure, I stumbled a lot during my recovery and had many dark days. I was so lucky not to be paralysed. My recovery was slow and painful and I lost so much more than just my movement. I also lost so much confidence which in turn affected my mental health. However, through it all, it made me realise that life is so precious.
SL: Do you think you’ve been given a second chance?
BG: Definitely, there have been so many close calls over the years. When I broke my back, I vowed that if I ever recovered I would live the rest of my life with total commitment, energy and gratitude. That time also made me even more determined to fulfil my childhood dream of climbing Everest. That fact that I did manage to go on and climb Everest was a clear sign to me of a second chance.
SL: How would you feel if your sons wanted to follow in your footsteps?
BG: They certainly love adventure, and I love to encourage that. But they are their own people and both Shara and I just want them to know that life is all about attitude and heart, whatever they end up doing. It’s about having the courage to follow dreams, and having that steely determination to keep going when we face opposition or hardships. Those are the things I care most about for them. And to be kind to each other, call their mum more and to never give up.
SL: What’s more important to you when you read your sons’ school reports – grades, effort or something else?
BG: I try to instil in my boys the message my dad gave to me. The message was simple; courage and kindness and never give up. Those things matter much more than good reports.
SL: What’s the most disgusting thing you’ve ever eaten?
BG: That’s a long list – frozen yak eyeballs in Siberia, bear poo in Transylvania, camel’s intestinal fluids in Sahara, rat brain in the South American jungles and urine from a snake skin in the Mexican desert – all were low points. But then no one ever said that survival tastes great, or is ever easy.
SL: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from the wild?
BG: That life isn’t about skills or talent but about attitude. A lifetime in the wild has shown me that courage, kindness and a never-give-up spirit conquer all.
SL: During lockdown you talked about “kindness being king”. Is that still relevant?
BG: This is definitely still relevant, now more so than ever. Kindness and humility are the heart of building strong relationships. It’s why the Scouts and all they stand for are so amazing. Kindness, community and adventure are always at the heart of all Scouting, and I love that.
SL: What does faith mean to you?
BG: Faith is different for everyone. For me, in the midst of any battle it means I can have the peace and friendship of Christ beside me. My Christian faith has been such a rock and backbone through so many adventures.
SL: Did it take you a while to be open about your Christian faith?
BG: Shara and I did an Alpha course when we first got married and it really helped us to find a quiet empowering Christian faith in our lives; that has helped us as a family through many tough moments. My faith has so often been that guiding light to a dark path on a mountain and a strength to a failing body, and I am no longer scared to admit I need that faith in my life. My family and faith are the real guiding forces in my life that calm me, leading me home and strengthening me when I am tired.
SL: Have you achieved everything you wanted from life, or are there more challenges ahead?
BG: The biggest achievements are around us all in our relationships, in our family. I’m super proud of being Chief Ambassador in World Scouting and the influence that young people can have there. Through everything I do, the goal is always to empower people through adventure, and I hope I’ll do that for a while.
SL: What does your wife say behind closed doors about your derring-do?
BG: Shara has lived with the dangers of my adventures for years now, and I think she works on the principle of not wanting to know too much of the gory details.
Closing thoughts: Many thanks to both Sam Hailes and John Eldredge for their thoughtful interviews with Bear Grylls and for drawing out quite different aspects of his life, his faith and his latest book The Greatest Story Ever Told.
It was interesting to rewind back to 2022 to rediscover and re-publish an interview conducted by our very own Founding Editor, the late Steve Legg. Without Steve’s vision, creativity and dedication there would be no Sorted Magazine. And not a week passes when I don’t pause to remember and appreciate his sacrificial giving.
Thanks of course, to Bear Grylls for his inspirational work and writing! Everyone at Sorted wishes you the very best with your latest project.
God bless,
Val Fraser, Editor