He has survived some of the most dangerous terrains in the world and numerous near-death incidents, but Bear Grylls has put his survival training to other uses: by picking up his Waitrose groceries.
The adventurer, 52, was spotted collecting up his weekly shop on a custom-made boat opposite his private Welsh island, Saint Tudwal’s Island West, last week on the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales.
Bear, a former SAS trooper who became Chief Scout, donned a black T-shirt and blue shorts with a lifejacket as he disembarked his boat to greet the driver from the supermarket chain.
The Waitrose home delivery van had backed up onto the shore near Abersoch Harbour Beach, as Bear’s amphibious vehicle, which is capable of travelling on both land and water, parked on the sand.
Bear, famed for programmes Born Survivor and Man Vs Wild, also stopped to have a friendly chat with a local, who he also allowed on board the vessel.
His unusual method of collecting his shopping left the delivery driver amused and he took out his phone to snap a photograph of Bear before he headed back to his island with his shopping.
He has survived the most dangerous terrains in the world and numerous near-death incidents, but Bear Grylls has put his survival training to other uses: by picking up his Waitrose groceries
The adventurer, 52, was spotted collecting up his weekly shop on a custom-made boat opposite his private Welsh island, Saint Tudwal’s Island West, last week on the Llŷn Peninsula
Bear previously told how he and his wife Shara bought both the island and a houseboat on the river Thames for less than the price of a £200,000 London flat in 2001.
Describing the island, he said it was ‘derelict with no power, no water, no roof and rats.’
However, it did come with a 200-year-old lighthouse and two lightkeeper’s cottages.
He told The Times: ‘I remember my first bath sitting in three inches of water pumped from the old tanks we’d cleaned out.
‘There was rubble everywhere and rain coming through, but it was a great moment.’
Despite the adventurous purchase, he did confirm that ferrying supplies over from the mainland had been hard work.
It took around ten years for the TV star to gain permission to build a slipway on the island, which he described as ‘life-changing’ as previously the boat was kept on a mooring where he then rowed ashore and walked a mile up the beach with supplies.
He added: ‘We have wild, wild seas and when it got rough you wouldn’t sleep thinking about what would happen to the boat.’
While the couple sold the houseboat, they now spend a majority of their time at Saint Tudwal’s and their penthouse at Battersea Power Station.
Bear, a former SAS trooper who became Chief Scout, donned a black T-shirt and blue shorts with a lifejacket as he disembarked his boat to greet the driver from the supermarket chain
Bear’s amphibious vehicle, which is capable of travelling on both land and water, parked on the sand
Describing the island, he said it was ‘derelict with no power, no water, no roof and rats.’ However, it did come with a 200-year-old lighthouse and two lightkeeper’s cottages.
Despite the adventurous purchase, Bear previously said ferrying supplies over from the mainland had been hard work
The Waitrose home delivery van had backed up onto the shore near Abersoch Harbour Beach,
Bear previously told how he and his wife Shara (pictured) bought both the island and a houseboat on the river Thames for less than the price of a £200,000 London flat in 2001
Earlier this year, they celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary and they share three sons, Jesse, 23, Marmaduke, 20 and 17-year-old Huckleberry.
Bear’s time with the SAS ended in 1996 following a free fall parachuting accident in Zambia where he broke three vertebrae after his parachute failed to open, leaving him plunging to the ground from 16,000 feet.
After recovering, he went on to become one of the youngest ever climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
His first TV appearance was for the Ministry of Defence’s anti-drug campaign.
Grylls’ Born Survivor programme alone saw him drink his own urine, eat deer droppings and insects, wrestle alligators and use the corpse of a sheep as a sleeping bag.
He was forced to apologise to viewers in 2008 when it was revealed parts of the show were ‘staged’ and he often stayed in hotels overnight, instead of the wilderness.
Grylls said at the time: ‘If people felt misled on how the first series was represented, I’m really sorry for that.’
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