This Was The Most Terrifying Moment Of Bear Grylls' Entire Career
Bear Grylls, the British paratrooper turned TV survivalist, is famous for many reasons but one of the main ones is his willingness to put himself in uncomfortable — and sometimes even dangerous — situations for viewer entertainment. While this all started on his first hit show "Man vs Wild" (which ended in 2012 due to a contract dispute between Grylls and Discovery), it seems to have continued now that Grylls has begun working for the streaming giant, Netflix. In fact, it was during filming for Netflix's choose-your-own-adventure show "Animals on the Loose" that Grylls had the most terrifying experience of his entire career — being strangled by a boa constrictor.
According to Grylls in an interview with the US Sun, the incident occurred while filming in South Africa when he jumped into a "flooded ravine" with a "big, maybe eight-foot, boa constrictor." Grylls explained that the crew members in charge of safety were unsure about the stunt, but he went in anyway and it ended up being a harrowing experience. He told the US Sun, "I've never been so scared in my life."
Why it was such a frightening experience
While it is unlikely that a boa constrictor of the size Grylls found would be able to eat a full-grown man, the fact that it got him around the neck is what made the encounter particularly dangerous as the snake could've killed him through strangulation or by pulling him underwater. As Grylls can be heard explaining in the footage on YouTube, "Once [constrictors] get a grip around, they can be really hard to get off, especially around the neck."
Luckily, Grylls was able to get out of the python's grasp and escape the incident without injury. Furthermore, the survivalist seems to have taken something positive from the experience telling the US Sun, that he felt "incredibly lucky to have survived." It seems that his fans are also lucky as it's the TV star's commitment to putting his own body on the line that gets the electrifying footage viewers love. While Grylls has had many close calls while filming in the past, this scare was quite different from Grylls' most dangerous injury on "Man vs Wild" which came from a loose camera hitting him on the leg.