Bear Grylls on island life, exploring Eton's sewers and embracing failure

This week’s guest is the British adventurer, Bear Grylls. Born in Northern Ireland, and raised on the Isle of Wight, Bear – a nickname he was gifted by his older sister – developed a taste for adventure whilst on excursions with his father. He started at Eton aged 8 – and found solace in a regimented world by making rafts, climbing buildings and exploring the sewers at night by torch. Later, he was accepted as part of the SAS. A horrific parachuting accident which left him with a broken back turned Bear’s life upside down. While lying in a hospital bed, with a poster in front of him of Everest, he vowed to get better and one day climb that mountain – which he did, becoming the youngest Briton at the time to do so. Since then, he’s brought a number of successful television shows to our screens – and cemented himself as Briton’s favourite adventurer. In this episode, he talks to Kelly-Anne Taylor about the invaluable life lessons his parents instilled in him, the joys of watching telly in bed and what one soldier said to him in the SAS recruitment process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices