Bear Grylls’ advice on surviving COVID: ‘Face this thing but hold on’
Bear Grylls has spent much of his life teaching us how to survive the harsh realities of our wild planet, so it’s only natural he has some sage advice on overcoming a global pandemic. The good news is you won’t have to drink your own urine to play along.
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Bear Grylls has spent much of his life teaching those game enough how to survive the harsh realities of our wild planet, so it’s only natural he has some sage advice on overcoming a different type of beast — COVID-19. The good news is you won’t have to drink your own urine to play along.
The British adventurer and former SAS trooper, who is currently hosting Amazon Prime Video’s The World’s Toughest Race, draws parallels between surviving the wild outdoors and making it through a global pandemic with your mind intact.
“It’s the same deal as what it takes to survive a jungle,” he says.
“Know that the storms don’t last forever, storms will come in all of our lives — whoever we are, whatever country we’re in — but they don’t last forever and how we act in the big moments defines us.
“Therefore in these times act with character and integrity and be kind, and be brave — face this thing but hold on.”
Grylls has a pretty good COVID plan in place himself — the survivalist is shacked up with his family on their remote island off the coast of Wales, where there is no electricity or running water.
Handing out advice on how to get through a global pandemic wasn’t on the survivalist’s Things To Do In 2020 list when he was hanging out of a helicopter over the dense jungle of Fiji in September last year watching on as more than 300 competitors from across the globe put their lives on the line to win the World’s Toughest Race.
“It’s the amazing thing about life and the world — you never know what’s around the corner,” he says.
“When we were filming we had no idea of everything ahead.”
Picking up 17 years after the last Eco-Challenge, this season sees 66 teams from 30 countries, including six from Australia, race around the clock for 11 days across some of the most rugged terrain on the planet.
Racers come from all walks of life and have stories that are tugging at your heartstrings before Grylls even sends them on their way.
There’s the dad recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease who is racing with his son. And the female career military officer who tells of waking up in a German hospital after a rocket attack in Afghanistan and finding out she had lost her hearing forever.
With a massive budget and the backing of billionaire Amazon owner Jeff Bezos — who has done one of Grylls’ survival courses — the sheer number of production staff on this 10-part series (“We drew hundreds of the best mountain guides, adventure guides, from all over the world,” Grylls says) ensures viewers are up close and personal, which makes for edge-of-your-seat TV in some of the more terrifying moments.
The World’s Toughest Race is TV escapism at its most exhilarating. Escapism magnified exponentially for viewers who are, in many places, now confined to their homes.
Grylls says the show’s release date couldn’t have come at a better time.
“It was amazing to see it all play out, the way that a year on we’re delivering the most ambitious, global adventure racing show on the planet and it’s rooted in two things,” he says. “It’s about showing people how amazing the world is when they can’t travel anywhere and secondly showing them how to get through difficult things. So I think the timing is incredible.”
Of course there is an inherent — and extreme — danger in a race like this.
It’s something Grylls tells the giant group before they set off and it’s something the creators spent months planning for in the lead-up to the event.
While there were countless minor scrapes, bruises and sprains along the way, one man almost paid the ultimate price for trying to continue with an open wound.
The man, who Grylls says was close to death, eventually recovered, but not before a warning from the master survivor.
“He knows ultimately we saved his life that day and he was very lucky,” he says.
“It’s why you don’t take little cuts for granted, don’t be a hero and just push on with it.”
* World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji is now streaming on Amazon Prime video
Originally published as Bear Grylls’ advice on surviving COVID: ‘Face this thing but hold on’