What was your biggest worry going into the show, and were there any moments while you were filming it when you were afraid for anyone? That vulnerability, that honesty, is what makes a great team.ħ. You’re all going to have to carry each other sometimes. Be a friend to people, leave the ego behind. Great teamwork is about looking after people in the crunch times when it really matters. I spent a lot of time with these teams before the race, and I would say the same four things. Did you give any advice to the competitors? It just felt like the right place to be doing this. The people were incredibly welcoming and I think for us, and for our competitors, the times they’d come out of jungles and into little villages, to have that support and love and motivation, was amazing. You have waterfalls and mountains and jungles and swamps and ravines and oceans and grassland. There was something symbolic about that.īut also it has truly incredible terrain, it’s so diverse. Talking about the wild Fijan landscape, what’s the most amazing place you saw in Fiji?įiji was the site of the last, original Eco Challenge 17 years ago, so for us to go back to Fiji was iconic. This is the spirit of World’sToughest Race, that you’ve got to be in it together, and that you’re stronger together.Ĥ. There are very few races on earth where, if one of your team drops out, that’s the end of it. To win this race you need to be an incredible team, first and foremost. There’s lots of different types of people in the race, what do you think is needed to win? Seeing humans at the limit was pretty amazing to be a part of. If one of your team goes down, it’s the end of the race for you. There was a power to that, in seeing the best in class at the absolute human limits, racing non-stop for every hour of the day for 11 days. I think that dynamic of bringing the world together, everyone raced under one country flag. We had representatives from 30 different countries. We had thousands and thousands of people apply for this, we took the best.
With World's Toughest Race, we’re taking the greatest adventure athletes and teams in the world for this. I think normally with Running Wild, the celebrities are absolute rookies, they’ve never done anything like this before. What’s more challenging for you, working with professionals in World’s Toughest Race or working with celebrities in Running Wild? If anyone has any doubt about the human body or the human spirit, and the human dynamic of working together, watch the World’s Toughest Race.Ģ. But the people who really had it tough were these teams and what they went through was truly inspirational. I think certainly on the World’s Toughest Race, there was a feeling of there being so many people involved, so much terrain, so much that can go wrong, that it was definitely a feeling of until the final person is over the finish line, we can’t relax. I feel a little bit like on Running Wild when I take famous people away, I don’t really rest or relax until everybody’s back safe. We might have had 300 racers, but the total crew was more like 1000, when you add in paramedics, helicopter pilots, and volunteers.
Obviously on the World’s Toughest Race, a lot of it focuses on the adventure races and the teams and what they’re going through, so it was amazing to see just behind the scenes what it takes to put something on of this scale. What was your routine while working on the show, and what was the toughest part for you?īear Grylls: It was interesting seeing how hard the whole team had to work on this show.