Bear Grylls talks writing his new book and how his faith guides his life

British broadcaster and survivalist Bear Grylls is well-known for pushing himself to the limits of human capability.

As the host of Man vs Wild, the former SAS soldier ate rotting zebra flesh, a yak’s eyeball and a live snake; fashioned a sleeping bag out of a camel’s carcass; and swam naked across a Siberian river in -67degC temperatures.

His tendency to drink his own urine as a survival tactic has spawned an entire meme format.

But ask Grylls the most difficult thing he’s ever done, and he doesn’t name-drop any of his stunts in the Sahara, the Arctic or the other extreme environments he’s conquered.

He says it’s writing a book – 2025’s The Greatest Story Ever Told, his immersive retelling of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Grylls’ biographical novel, which rose to the top of the Sunday Times bestseller list after last year’s release, is an account of Jesus’ life more akin to a thriller, and told from the perspectives of those who knew him best.

“I still  film our TV shows and I love all of that, but this has been different… It's been the hardest, but probably the best thing I feel I've ever done,” he told Petra Bagust in a Newstalk ZB interview that aired on Good Friday.

“Faith has always been a quiet part of my life… [but] the story of Jesus that I grew up with was such a sanitised version of it and never really felt relevant or personal to my life.

“As a teenager, when I eventually found a faith, it became a bedrock and anchor and backbone. I realised the real story of Jesus is so different from the one I grew up with as a young kid, which was very much rooted in church and religion – quite smiley and nice.

“The real story of Christ is so incredible and life-changing, and it's a story of courage, friendship, risk, rescue and sacrifice. I just thought so few people know that actual story.”

The Greatest Story Ever Told transports readers into the brutal realities of first-century Palestine and an unassuming refugee’s world-changing life and ministry.

Each character is assigned their original Aramaic names (Jesus becomes ‘Yeshua’, while Joseph is ‘Yosef’), with theologians and historians helping Grylls at every step of the writing process to maintain accuracy. Particular care was taken to ensure none of Jesus’ words were altered from original Gospel  accounts.

Grylls told Newstalk ZB The Greatest Story Ever Told is written for those without a faith, some of whom may not have had positive memories of engaging with Christianity in the past, to hear the Gospel story afresh.

“ So many of us with faith and religion, we have filters and bad experiences – and just the word ‘God’ or ‘father’ or even ‘Jesus’ can be difficult for people. We've done a pretty good job, over 2000 years, of screwing up a really beautiful ultimate message of love and forgiveness and redemption,” he said.

“That's why it's been so powerful for me to get so many letters, thousands of them every day… from every culture, every country, every faith – atheist, Muslims, you name it – all basically say the same thing, which is ‘I had no idea the real story of Jesus’.”

Asked by Bagust about the book’s connections to his adventure background, Grylls says the principles of survival on a mountain or in a jungle are much the same as when they are applied to the mental, emotional and spiritual challenges of everyday life.

“ These are part of our arsenal of weapons as a human. Look at the great stories of survival through prison or concentration camps or war or loss or whatever – that hope, that light, that spiritual bit is a powerful bit, [and] the physical follows,” he said.

“The great survivors have that burning light inside that is unrelenting and all-conquering, and it's what sets us apart as humans.

“ What helps me be strong in a jungle or a mountain? It's the same thing that helps me through the tough days of life. For me, my faith has … been that streak of steel. I don't want to stand on my own strength because a lifetime of surviving has made me realise I'm not that strong.”

Grylls’ favourite story from the book is when the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being a glutton and a drunkard because he’s affiliating with the rough end of society, and he responds by telling them he had come to seek and save the lost.

“I was one of the lost boys, I still am. But I was found – and I'm such a proud lost boy. I'm proud to be found. And that changed everything for me,” he said.

“I don't feel particularly religious. I don't go to church very much – I

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks ed Be
follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on
iHeartRadio Bear Grills.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
So great to have you with us today. You've written
yet another book. You're not known as well for your
books as for your TV series, but this book is
a best seller and it's called the Greatest Story Ever told.
You've written the story of Jesus as a thriller through
eyewitness accounts of five people who hung out with Jesus heaps.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Why did you write it?

Speaker 4 (00:43):
Well, first of all, it's been, to be honest, it's
been the hardest but probably the best thing I feel
I've ever done.

Speaker 5 (00:50):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (00:51):
I think faith has always been a quite a part
of my life and empowering backbone and strength to so
many adventures and so many experiences over the years.

Speaker 5 (01:03):
And I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:04):
I think I grew up the story of Jesus that
I grew up with with such a sanitized version of
it and never really felt relevant or kind of personal
to my life. And I think as a teenager, when
I eventually found a face and uh, you know, became
that kind of bedrock and anchor and backbone, if you like,

(01:27):
you know, I realized the real story of Jesus is
so different from the one I kind of grew up
with as a young kid, which was very much rooted
in like church and religion, and you know, quite smiley
and nice, and uh, I.

Speaker 5 (01:43):
Don't know, the real the real one.

Speaker 4 (01:46):
The real story of Christ is so incredible and life changing,
and there's a story of courage and friendship and risk
and rescue and sacrifice. And I just thought, so few
people know it, you know, the actual story, and all
of us we tend to know stories, you know, maybe
the Nativity or you know, the Crucifixion, or maybe the

(02:10):
Good Samaritan and these sort of stories, but the actual
story together, it is so incredible. So I kind of
thought nobody's ever written this as like a thriller, you know,
to make it theologically one hundred percent accurate. And I haven't.
I haven't changed a single word that Jesus says. But
we kind of set the scene around this, and I've
thought nobody's done this before. And you know, to read

(02:32):
the Bible can be hard. It's hard, yeah, yeah, and
especially people like me.

Speaker 5 (02:40):
I like struggle reading, you know, So I kind of
wrote it like.

Speaker 4 (02:44):
This short punchy chapter, short, punchy book, and an American
past wrote to me the other day he said, this
is like he goes this genius is like Tom Clancy
has been told to write the Jesus story, which was
a much better description than my rambling attempt just then.

Speaker 5 (03:01):
But it's what we've done, as you said, it went
to number one.

Speaker 4 (03:03):
And it's been like it's probably been the most powerful
thing in terms of people's response.

Speaker 5 (03:09):
Of anything I've ever done.

Speaker 4 (03:10):
You know, watch your film on TV shows and I
love all of that, but but this has been different,
you know, because this is like people's reactions to something
really personal, and you know, generally people's reactions are the same,
which is that I had no idea. And you know,
I get people from every culture, every country, every faith, asis, Muslims,

(03:33):
you name it, and they all kind of basically say
the same thing which I had no idea, the real
story of Jesus.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah, I mean, like I think of you as a
doer more than a writer, like you know, and this
is it's incredibly like you say, punchy and available the story.
Can you write about Jesus Yeshua in the book and
he's loving and wise and courageous, and it's gritty. He's
angry and he's fired up. I've cried reading it, and

(04:03):
I'm surprised, but it's so immensely encourage Janey to excess.
How how incredibly loving Issua is towards everyone.

Speaker 4 (04:17):
Yeah, that's beautiful to hear. And I'm really touched you
say that. And you know that is the thing. That's
why I call them by all. I said, the whole
thing is in the Aramaic and because I think so
many of us with faith and religion and we have
so many filters and bad experiences and just a word
of God or Father or even Jesus can be difficult
for people, you know, because we've done done a pretty

(04:40):
good job over two thousand years of kind of screwing
up a really beautiful, the ultimate message of love and
forgiveness and redemption. And you know, so I wanted people
to be had to arrive at this with no filters.
And that's why, you know, that's why it's been so
powerful for me to get these so many letters, yea,
thousands of them every day, you know, from these people
at different faiths, you know, saying who would have never

(05:02):
read it normally, you know, they knew that story from
a distance. It's about Christmas, or it's about Easter, or
I think I'm not quite sure what it's about. It's like,
you know, it's so beautiful to see people kind of
finding it for the first time. And the one thing
that hasn't changed over two thousand years is that when
people have that personal connection, like you saying you reading
and having tears in your eyes. You know, it's like

(05:24):
that that stayed the same since since Jesus walked on
this earth and everyone he encountered just came away changed
and healed and better and empowered.

Speaker 5 (05:35):
And you know why why was that?

Speaker 4 (05:38):
That's what I wanted to get to the heart of
you know, why would people just fight to get through
a crowd to touch the tip of his cloak? You know,
it's like, this is so different from the Jesus that
I grew up with. You know, why did the religious
elite fear him so much and hate him so much?

Speaker 5 (05:53):
You know?

Speaker 4 (05:54):
So it's as I say, it's been a beautiful, powerful journey,
but like I feel, it's the best thing I've ever done.
The TV shows will come and go, and like I said,
we're still doing those. I'm out filming at the moment
in the mountains and in California, and it's it's amazing
and I love that. But this is different because it's
all of our stories wrapped up in his story.

Speaker 5 (06:16):
And that's different.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah, it hits different.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
And I was thinking about that, Like Man versus Wild,
the work you've done that you're really well known for
is about survival and dangerous and difficult environments. Sometimes it
feels like everyday life is quite dangerous and difficult. And
is there a sense for you that this book is
about the survival of our spirit of something more mysterious.

Speaker 4 (06:41):
Well, it's not that all the same thing, really, you know.
I mean, survival isn't just a physical endeavor. You know,
you're out in the mountains or you're finding your way
through a jungle and your you know, this is so
much survival is so much more than the physical, you know,
great survival has to be mental and emotional and spiritual.
These are part of our arsenal of weapons as you like,

(07:04):
if you like, as a human, you know, we're given.

Speaker 5 (07:07):
These things to I mean, look at.

Speaker 4 (07:09):
A great stories for survival through I don't know, even
you go through prison or concentration camps, of war or
loss or whatever. It's like that hope, that light, that
spiritual pin is a powerful bit. The physical kind of follows,
you know, but the great survivors have that burning light
inside that is unrelenting in this is all conquering, and

(07:30):
it's what sets us apart as humans. So I kind
of feel it's all connected, really, you know. I think
on the surface you kind of feel like it's kind
of left field for me, but actually it's all connected.
You know, what helps me be strong in the jungle
or a mountain, it's the same thing that helps.

Speaker 5 (07:47):
Me through the tough days of life. You know.

Speaker 4 (07:50):
It's like for me, my faith has been that light.
It's been that backbone. It's been that streak of steel.
I don't want to stand on my on my own strength,
because a lifetime is surviving has made me realize I'm
not that strong.

Speaker 5 (08:03):
You know.

Speaker 4 (08:03):
It's like the hand and the glove. You know, the
glove on its own is not very strong. With the glove,
you know that the faith bin is the hand inside
that gives us that light, that purpose, that strength, that power.

Speaker 5 (08:15):
So I kind of see it like that.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
Brilliant I think you're right, it is all connected.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
And it feels connected to me even you know, where
one might focus physically and the other focus more on
your emotional spiritual health. Hey, in terms of the Easter story,
like today is Good Friday, you've had to grapple with
what it was all about, the trial, the execution, the torture,
the death, the resurrection of Jesus. What do you make

(08:43):
of the Easter Story?

Speaker 4 (08:45):
Well, first of all, it's another story for the fainthearted,
you know, and that you should they kind of should
be a warning a little bit with the greatest story
ever told, because you know, it gets pretty full on
at the end, and you know the reason is such
a story of courage as well is to knowingly go
and walk into torture and horror and execution.

Speaker 5 (09:06):
And I mean you've read it, you know you know
what that.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Bit it's like it's quite miserable, but that is life.
That is how it was, and it's it's how it's
why it is the greatest story. You know, it's like
the ultimate act of love and sacrifice. It is you know,
it's not potentially the greatest story. You know, if it's true,
it affects all.

Speaker 5 (09:25):
Of our lives.

Speaker 4 (09:25):
That that that that God coming to us as man
to to live for us and to show us a
better way and to lead us into light and love.
And you know that that Good Friday is the ultimate
act of courage.

Speaker 5 (09:41):
And people say, why is it good?

Speaker 4 (09:43):
You know it's good because it's it leads us into
light and what does that mean? Well, for that you've
got to explore, and it's I don't know. One of
my favorite lines in the book is when Jesus is
with the Pharisees and they accused him of being a
glutton and a drunkard, you know, because he's hanging out
with the with a rough end of society, and he

(10:04):
just says, I haven't come to I've come to seek and.

Speaker 5 (10:07):
Save the lost. And you know what, I was one
of the lost. I was one of the lost boys.
I still am, but I was found and it's.

Speaker 4 (10:15):
Like, I'm such a proud lost boy. I'm proud to
be a found and that changed everything for me. And
it's you know, I don't feel particularly religious.

Speaker 5 (10:25):
I don't go to church very much.

Speaker 4 (10:27):
I mean I do try and go a bit with
a family, but my faith isn't rooted in that. My
faith is in the simple, every day the connection of
friendships and kneeling by our boy's bed before they go
to sleep and saying a simple prayer for them. You know,
it's in laughter with good friends and love of family,
and you know how we live and how we tackle
risk and relationships and all these things.

Speaker 5 (10:49):
You know, that's for me.

Speaker 4 (10:51):
How he kind of lived and wanted I think, to
bring out that sort of spirit in us, you know,
he said, and when he lived, you know, the bread.

Speaker 5 (10:58):
Of life come to me. So how I try and live.
I try and keep it simple, but it's how I
try and live every day.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
It sounds like you're trying to love God and love
other people.

Speaker 5 (11:08):
Well, it's a journey, isn't it.

Speaker 6 (11:10):
It fail a lot, and I fail a lot, and
I'm definitely like, I'm no model of anything, you know,
but I think my face at heart, like I said,
it says we're lost and then we're found and we're
led into light.

Speaker 5 (11:21):
And we're not the hand, we're the gloves.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
This glove is pretty kind of worn and battered, but
that the hand is beautiful. Her hand is light and
love and forgiveness.

Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, absolutely, brilliant beer.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
It's it's a it's it's a compelling rollicking, revealing story
and I love reading it from the five different people's perspectives.
It gives you such this nuanced you know that there's
the perspective of the mother, and then the perspective of
the dear friend, and the perspective of the sort of skeptic,
and the perspective of you know, Mary Magdalene. It's it's

(11:57):
a really beautiful way to turn around and look at
the character of Yeshua Jesus from different angles.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
It works brilliantly.

Speaker 5 (12:06):
Well, I'm so touched.

Speaker 4 (12:07):
And you know, the thing that means the most to
me is how this story is finding people where they
are and often the points of pain and struggle.

Speaker 5 (12:15):
And doubt as well in their lives.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
And it's not this book wasn't written for the people
of faith.

Speaker 5 (12:20):
This has written for the lost boys.

Speaker 4 (12:21):
Like me, and though it's who are full of doubt,
of which I.

Speaker 5 (12:24):
Am included as well.

Speaker 4 (12:25):
I have as many moments to be honest of struggle
and doubt as I do of eyes wide wonder in
my life. And again, i'd I love that that it's okay,
you know, it's not about us, It's about we'll lifted
up and led into life and that's a relief, you know,
is that we don't have to perform, you know, we
don't have to have it all together. Yeah, And I

(12:46):
think those are the people that recognized something in Jesus
that just meant they wanted to be close to. And
the story tells of all of this. It's the bits
that make people cry. I think in this story.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
Isn't it a relief that it's not all about us?

Speaker 2 (13:00):
And thank you so much for putting yourself out there
and you know, being very human and very courageous and
writing and yeah, giving us a fresh take on this
story of life.

Speaker 5 (13:12):
And love right well?

Speaker 4 (13:14):
Yeah, so kind that means laught And it's like courage
is a funny thing, isn't it. It's like one thing
I did before reading writing this book was read the
Bible cover to cover, which, as we said, is not
an easy task.

Speaker 5 (13:26):
Is hard.

Speaker 4 (13:26):
But the wondering I did learn is that there's one
command that's repeated more than any other command in the Bible,
three hundred and sixty five times, the same command, be
of good courage.

Speaker 5 (13:36):
You know, do not be afraid, be of good courage.

Speaker 4 (13:39):
And I don't know, I'm a soldier at heart.

Speaker 5 (13:41):
I'm not always going to succeed, but I.

Speaker 4 (13:43):
Take that as an instruction for how to live and
with the light of the Almighty in our hearts. On
Good Friday, we're heading towards Easter Sunday, where it all
comes together and like it's a privileged life is such
a privilege, and I'm so grateful for that connection and
so many good friends around the world and have faith

(14:04):
in our hearts, and you know, it's a very difficult
time in the world as well, so many people. It's
like we've never needed light and love and unity and
peace and forgiveness. More so, love and blessing to everyone
in New Zealand listening to this today.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
Brilliant, Thank you beer. Great to talk to you all
of this with your filming. Thank you for taking the time.

Speaker 5 (14:24):
Wonderful. Take care.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
For more from News Talks. It' b listen live on
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you go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.