– Zac Efron, Ben Stiller, Channing Tatum and other celebs take on the challenge of surviving the wild in an action-packed 48-hour journey with Bear Grylls –
New Delhi, January 30, 2015: Private jets, after parties, sparkling swag bags and a coterie of personal assistants, publicists, agents and managers. Why would anyone trade this for two days of roughing it in the wilderness? In RUNNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS, the famed adventurer and survivalist will take six celebrities into wild and remote locations for a journey of a lifetime. RUNNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS premieres February 13 on Discovery Channel and will air Friday to Sunday at 9 pm.
The celebrities who will be teamed up with Bear in their own stand-alone episodes are Zac Efron, Ben Stiller, Channing Tatum, Tom Arnold, NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, and anchor Tamron Hall.
Together, they will endure the harsh wilderness and run a high-stakes gauntlet of mental and physical obstacles, with a reward of spiritual renewal waiting at each remote extraction point. From skydiving into the Catskill Mountains, to rappelling down the cliffs of Utah, to battling torrential wind and rain in Scotland, Bear and each of them will have to push both their minds and bodies to the limit.
Commenting on the programme, Rahul Johri, EVP & GM – South Asia and Southeast Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said, “Bear Grylls has an ever-growing popularity in India. An ultimate survival expert, Bear travels the planet to give a complete picture of survival. In this new series, he travels with celebrities and inspires viewers how to survive in some of the world’s most desolate terrains.”
Join Bear and the celebrities as they step out of their comfort zones and embark on their individual high-octane, action-filled empowering journeys on each hour-long episode.
About Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel, the flagship network of Discovery Communications, is devoted to creating the highest quality pay-TV programming in the world and remains one of the most dynamic networks on television. First launched in 1985, Discovery Channel reaches 202 million subscribers in Asia Pacific. It offers viewers an engaging line-up of high-quality non-fiction entertainment from blue-chip nature, science and technology, ancient and contemporary history, adventure, cultural and topical documentaries.
RUNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS
EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS
Zac Efron
The first episode features heartthrob Zac Efron. The star of the ‘High School Musical’ series and ‘Neighbors’ found fame at an early age. But despite his success, he has always found refuge in the outdoors. As a child growing up near San Luis Obispo, Zac camped a lot, but now he is in for a whole new experience: surviving the Catskills, Bear Grylls style. After hopping out of a helicopter and solo parachuting to Earth, Zac and Bear must recover their packs and provisions, then find their way to a distant extraction point. Can Zac stomach his “special” dinner, learn a terrifying technique to cross a chasm, and eventually conquer the wild?
Ben Stiller
You might think Ben Stiller, who has acted opposite Sean Penn, Ben Kingsley and Tom Cruise and braved his share of stunts in the likes of ‘Zoolander’ and ‘Tropic Thunder’ could easily handle a trip into the wilds of Scotland. But you could be wrong… As Bear and Ben hop aboard the skids of a helicopter, the clouds are everywhere around them making it impossible for the chopper’s pilot to deposit them atop a ridge at the edge of the Black Cullian mountains. What challenges lie in wait for Ben? What fears must he face? In the care of Bear Grylls, Ben’s 48-hour adventure is a wet, cold, terrifying journey of survival that will push him to the brink.
Channing Tatum
He has been a model, an exotic dancer, an action star, a dancing hunk and a leading man. But can Channing Tatum play the part of mountain man? Let’s just say if they ever remake the movie ‘Jeremiah Johnson,’ Channing’s agent should get the first call. Gliding high over the dense pines of the Sierra National Forest, Bear and Channing decide their outdoor adventure should begin with a bang – or a splash. As the chopper whips up a frenzy of waves in a high mountain lake not far from Yosemite National Park, the two men take turns backflipping off the helicopter skids and into the lake. This celebrity seems to have a boundless appetite for adventure… Or does he?
Tom Arnold
After running around with the likes of Channing Tatum and Zac Efron, Bear has been taking the extreme route, pushing himself and his celebrity mountain men to the edge. Now, with Tom Arnold anxiously awaiting pickup at the edge of Oregon’s wild coast, it might be time to tone it down a notch. Arnold is an experienced comic and star, a veteran of over 100 films and TV shows. But as an outdoorsman he would have to be qualified as a neophyte. Still, having lost 100 pounds recently, Tom is up for a physical challenge and hopes to pick up a few outdoor skills so he can take his young kids on their own adventure. The two hop aboard the skids of a helicopter and are soon skimming over the dense treetops of some of Oregon’s wildest landscape. Game on.
Tamron Hall
Bear’s next fellow adventurer is Tamron Hall – veteran reporter, anchor and host of DEADLINE: CRIME WITH TAMRON HALL on Eve. She is a city girl through and through and surviving in the stark high country of southern Utah promises to push her in ways she’s never known.
With his customary flair for entrances, Bear swoops by hanging from a helicopter and points her to their meet up location. He clips Tamron into a harness, attaches it to the chopper and off they fly. It is an invigorating kickoff to their adventure as Tamron faces her fear of heights and rappels from the hovering chopper to reach their landing spot. “Can we just call it a show now?” Tamron asks half-jokingly. Has she bitten off more than she can chew?
Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders is tough – no question about that. As an NFL Hall of Fame cornerback and kick returner, he faced being pummeled and bashed up at each game. As a major league baseball player, he stood strong as 95-mile-per-hour fastballs whizzed past his face. His speed, athleticism and his mental and physical toughness took him to the pinnacle of his profession. But today he faces another pinnacle – one that terrifies him: the mountains of the desert southwest. At a helipad in southern Utah, Deion watches Bear swoop in low on the skids of a helicopter and land on a grassy pad. Their mission includes a trek through winding slot canyons, a trek across exposed desert and then a climb up a 6,000-foot red rock peak. Though Deion is in great shape, he is no outdoorsman – the prospect of snakes, cliffs and wild animals makes him uneasy. Will he succeed in his mission to prove to his children (and himself) that he has not become “soft?”