What is Bear Grylls’ net worth? How star makes his money revealed
Bear Grylls has hosted his own TV series from 2005, written children's books, performs motivational speeches and sells his own merchandise.
Bear Grylls returns to our television screens with his anticipated World's Toughest Race: Eco-challenge Fiji series, set to be the most challenging of his expeditions yet.
The 46-year-old adventurer and TV star will host the 10-part show, which tells the story of the ultimate expedition race, in which 66 teams from 30 countries race non-stop for 11 days, 24 hours a day, across hundreds of miles of rugged Fijian terrain complete with mountains, jungles and oceans.
The travel show launches on Amazon Prime Video on 14th August 2020 in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
It's the latest survivalist show from Grylls, who is believed to have amassed a large fortune from his prolific writing, motivational speaking and TV career, which spans over a decade. His estimated fortune is said to be around £15,556,000, according to The Richest, so we take a look at how he has accrued his vast wealth over the years.
Bear Grylls' TV career - 2005 until now
He made his television debut in 2005 with his four-part Channel 4 show Escape to the Legion, which followed Grylls and eleven contestants as they took part in basic desert training in the Sahara.
The former SAS serviceman is arguably best known for his series Man vs. Wild, which launched on Channel 4 in 2006, and originally titled Born Survivor. It saw the survivalist being dropped into inhospitable places, and showing viewers how to persevere in the wild. According to the Richest, Grylls made £22,000 per episode on Man vs. Wild.
The series caused upset when a programme consultant let slip that Grylls actually stayed in a hotel on some of the nights and that certain scenes had been staged for dramatic effect.
In 2010, Grylls began his new TV project Worst Case Scenario with the Discovery Channel, based on the popular books of the same name. Twelve episodes were produced before the show was axed.
The following year he made two specials Bear's Wild Weekend for Channel 4. Two extra episodes were aired in UK which included 2011 special of Man vs. Wild featuring Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal, and Running Wild episode featuring fellow US star Ben Stiller.
His other series include NBC's Get Out Alive, Discovery Channel's Escape From Hell, Channel 4's The Island and the US version for NBC.
NBV adventure series Running Wild with Bear Grylls featured a two-day trip in the wilderness with big name celebrities and public figures including Zac Efron, Kate Winslet, Channing Tatum, Michael B Jordan and Barack Obama.
His six-part ITV series Bear Grylls: Mission Survive - which featured eight celebrities on a twelve-day survival mission - ran for two seasons between 2015 and 2016.
Grylls-fronted adventure series Survivor Games for China's Dragon TV, and in 2018 ITV premiered Bear's Mission with... which saw a British celebrity taking an overnight adventure with Bear each episode.
Netflix's You vs Wild, an interactive series which enables viewers to make key decisions to help Bear Grylls survive in the harshest environments on Earth, is available to watch on the streaming platform now.
Bear Grylls' books
In addition to his TV work, Grylls has released a children's adventure series called Mission Survival: Gold of the Gods, Mission Survival: Way of the Wolf, Mission Survival: Sands of the Scorpion, Mission Survival: Tracks of the Tiger and Mission Survival: Claws of the Crocodile.
In 2012, Grylls released his autobiography, Mud, Sweat and Tears: The Autobiography, followed by A Survival Guide for Life in late 2012 and True Grit in 2013. He most recently published a Christian devotional called Soul Fuel.
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Merchandise
Grylls' official website sells merchandise, which includes insulated water bottles from £14.99, trekking poles at £39.99 and bamboo clothing from £19.99.
Motivational speaking
Grylls is also paid to give motivational speeches worldwide to corporations, churches, schools, and other organisations.
World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji comes to Amazon Prime Video on August 14th. Sign up for Amazon Prime for £7.99 a month with a 30-day free trial. To see what else is on, have a look at our TV Guide.