According to an investigation by British television network Channel 4, "Man vs Wild" star and former British special forces soldier Bear Grylls has been snoozing in motels rooms at times when he's been depicted as staying overnight in harsh conditions.
In another charge, it is said that a raft that Grylls was said to have made himself, was in fact built by show consultants who put it together and then took it apart. Yet another time Grylls pointed out what were alleged to be wild horses, which were actually brought in from a trekking station.
The Discovery Channel responded to the allegations saying, "Discovery Communications has learned that isolated elements of the 'Man vs. Wild' show in some episodes were not natural to the environment, and that for health and safety concerns, the crew and host received some survival assistance while in the field."
While all that is well and good, this could be a potential big problem for the network. Their strategy to draw viewers has been to drop unscripted formats and go with the exploration type of shows that have made the brand popular. For the shows not to be credible in what they are portraying definitely could cause a problem if viewers don't find them engaging as a result.
"Moving forward, the program will be 100% transparent and all elements of the filming will be explained upfront to our viewers," Discovery said. "In addition, shows that are to be repeated will be edited appropriately. Bear Grylls is a world-class adventurer and a terrific talent."
While the network was obviously trying to be entertaining, it does make a huge psychological difference to fans if "Grylls" is really going through what he's made to look like he is or not. Knowing this to be true, it's hard to believe the network didn't know about the various accomodations and contrived scenarios that were evidently part of the show all along.
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