Bear Grylls

I always had a really natural faith as a kid. Where I knew God existed and it felt very free and pretty wild and natural, and it wasn't religious. ”

The special forces gave me the self-confidence to do some extraordinary things in my life. Climbing Everest then cemented my belief in myself. ”

I do see a lot of the hard end of ecology, and my feeling is that we live on a super-exciting planet but a super-fragile one. ”

The rules of survival never change, whether you're in a desert or in an arena. ”

Americans are cool; if you show just a chink of vulnerability, they respond so much. They'll pat you on the arm and say, 'Hey kid, you're all right.' Brits will respond but they are much more cynical. ”

I exercise about 40 minutes a day, and I'll run one day and do circuit training the next day. I live in an area where there are brilliant hills and mountains, so I get a good hill run with my dog. At home, I'll do the circuit training with old weights, along with pull-ups in the trees and that sort of stuff. ”

You're not human if you don't feel fear. But I've learnt to treat fear as an emotion that sharpens me. It's there to give me that edge for what I have to do. ”

Survival requires us to leave our prejudices at home. It's about doing whatever it takes - and ultimately those with the biggest heart will win. ”

My favorite moments? Where it's all going swimmingly, the sun's out and I've got a fire going and a nice snake on the barbecue. ”

I never wanted to do TV. I just did what I was trained to do through the Special Forces, and I've been doing that from a very young age. ”