Bear Is Innocent Until Proven Guilty

I don't watch much television, but Man vs. Wild was one show I'd stop and watch eagerly. For the uninitiated, the show features Edward "Bear" Grylls, a former British Special Air Services member, and youngest man to climb Mt. Everest - and live. The series features Bear being dropped by parachute into some of the most inhospitable places on earth (the Amazon, the Chugach Mountain Range in Alaska, etc.). He then shows viewers how to survive.

A two-person camera crew are the only people that follow him, and they have instructions to not help him in any way unless he runs into a life/death situation.

I always knew the show wasn't exactly what it claimed to be, in that they had to stage certain actions for production value. No biggie. But according to the BBC, the show is basically a fraud. If these allegations prove true, I'll feel like a kid who just learned pro wrestling is fake. I love the show and Bear is a cool guy with a likable personality.

Born Survivor featured British adventurer Bear Grylls dealing with "perilous situations" in the wild.

But a crew member told the Sunday Times some nights were spent in hotels.

[...]

American survival consultant Mark Weinert, who was recruited by Diverse Productions, told the paper Grylls claimed to be stranded on a desert island on one occasion.

However, he was actually in Hawaii and spent some of his time there in a motel, Mr Weinert alleged.

Another time, he added, Grylls was filmed building a raft by himself, whereas the crew had actually put it together and dismantled it beforehand, to ensure that it worked.

And in a further episode, supposedly "wild" horses rounded up by Grylls had come from a local trekking facility, he claimed.

Channel 4 [the UK station airing Man vs. Wild] said in a statement that Born Survivor was "not an observational documentary series, but a 'how-to' guide to basic survival techniques in extreme environments".

"The programme explicitly does not claim that presenter Bear Grylls' experience is one of unaided solo survival.

"For example, he often directly addresses the production team, including the cameraman, making it clear he is receiving an element of back-up."

The broadcaster said Grylls carried out his own stunts and did place himself in perilous situations, "though he does so within clearly-observed health and safety guidelines required on productions of this kind".

"However, we take any allegations of misleading our audiences seriously and will be looking into this further with Diverse over the next few days."

Bear is innocent until proven guilty, and I hope evidence comes out that exonerates him soon.