Survival specialist Bear Grylls has embarked upon a fresh venture. Rather than his typical foraging programmes, he is now helping feuding parties mend their bonds through wilderness expeditions.
Wild Reckoning will premiere on the BBC next year, with filming having taken place in Wales.
Bear, who is the owner of St Tudwal’s Island West (Ynys Tudwal Fawr), a private island situated off the Llŷn Peninsula, has chosen to unite groups of people to resolve their differences outdoors. The programme will document a mother and son, siblings, and a married couple as they work to repair their relationships.
He explained his reasoning for filming the series in Snowdonia National Park and along the North Wales coastline.
He said: “First of all it’s home for me for a big part of the year. It’s an area of wilderness I know well and I love.”, reports Wales Online.
“I kind of wanted to bring people to what felt like home turf and to introduce them to some of the beautiful mountains and coast around Wales.
“It’s all based on the principle like: ‘This journey doesn’t require you to go to the other ends of the earth’. You know, this journey’s requiring you to get outside with those you love, and listen and trust.” Sign up now for the latest news on the North Wales Live Whatsapp community
He said he and his wife Shara have possessed the island throughout their marriage. Bear added: “We spend a lot of time up there and it’s just super-close to our hearts. Our boys have been brought up there, the community around us are incredible and, as you know, Wales has some of the greatest wilderness in all of the UK.”
When asked for his top five favourite places to explore in Wales he said: “I would say Abersoch is number one. For the people, the beaches.
“I’d say the Welsh coastal path. It’s incredible, one of the greatest in the world, really. I’d say Bardsey, Bardsey Island, rich in so much history and monastic stories.”
Bear continued: “I would say Pen-y-Fan in the Brecon Beacons and I would say some of the Elan Valley, some of the reservoirs.
“Nobody really goes to Elan Valley but it’s so wild and so beautiful.”
