Why 'Survivorman' Les Stroud Has A Problem With Bear Grylls
Host of "Survivorman" Les Stroud is often compared to Bear Grylls during interviews and online posts, which doesn't always sit right with the former. During an interview with Vice, Stroud finally came out about why that was. It's not necessarily that he thinks he's better, but the star claims that Bear Grylls is part of a fake series with no true survival skills while "Survivorman" focuses on actual survival skills and real scenarios when filming, including what you should pack in a car survival kit.
In all honesty, Stroud doesn't believe there's much of a comparison between him and Grylls. "I understand why the comparisons get made, but there really is no comparison. This is not me with pretentiousness or bravado or ego but I actually don't think there is overlap. I go out there to survive, to show people real-life scenarios, and to make my show informative and entertaining."
He's not wrong, either. In 2007, Grylls was found sleeping in rather comfy cabins and hotels when the camera shut off for the day while filming "Man vs. Wild", which is probably why one of Grylls' worst injuries came from colliding with a camera. While some fans expect this from reality TV, it makes sense that someone who's actually focused on teaching real survival skills would be upset when compared to someone who has allegedly faked some scenarios.
It's not just Bear Grylls
While Les Stroud is often compared to Bear Grylls, who was fired from "Man vs. Wild" in 2012, the two don't specifically have a problem with each other. Instead, it's more that Stroud has problems with most other shows that focus on survival in the wilderness.
His biggest problem with them is that most of the shows are for entertainment and drama, instead of actual survival information. In his interview with Vice, he explained further, "All of this stuff [in other survival shows] is a sham. It's not genuine survival. The producers of these shows want to push the envelope more and more each season because the whole escalation lies in the next biggest thing. They have to fake these scenarios in order to achieve that consistently."
During his interview, Stroud mentioned that he was the one in charge of his videos, and he never makes decisions to take the easy way out, even behind the scenes. "The only times we have been pulled out was in Utah once because I was extremely dehydrated and couldn't go on, along with one time in Labrador because my crew could not handle the conditions. I was okay, but I look out for my crew. When it comes to my own experience, I don't half-a** these things like a lot of the reality stars do."