TV survivalist Bear Grylls is set to launch a new reality show, featuring the cast of Netflix series The Chosen, which is based on the life of Jesus.
Grylls is a Christian, who has said his faith is a “secret of strength”.
He said: “I’m really proud to announce The Chosen in the Wild, where I get to take cast members away on many ‘Running Wild’-type adventures, get to know their stories, see the real people, what they’re like, their background, and their journey through ‘The Chosen,’ their faith, and kind of how it’s changed them.”
The Chosen is entering its fifth season, and depicts Christ’s life and miracles, as well as the imagined private lives of the disciples. Grylls said The Chosen “shows the real Jesus”, and helps illustrate the “struggles, doubts and frustrations” of the early disciples.
“And yet, Christ was this beautiful, powerful, strong, impassioned — at times, angry — loving figure.
“I always looked at Jesus, like, if God exists, this is how I hope He’d be. So seeing Him portrayed in a real way is always powerful.”
Grylls revealed he has filmed four episodes of The Chosen in the Wild, with the final one to feature Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus. Roumie himself is a Catholic, who has served as a minister, in addition to having an acting career.
Bear Grylls said the cast members’ stories are “inspiring”, and that filming with them has been “ a different dynamic.
“[The cast members] are really powerful, and [there’s] a lot of emotion.”
He told CBN News that he had had to “unlearn” ideas from childhood about Christianity being rigid and legalistic, saying: “Faith is the most freeing and empowering, raw, wild adventure you’ll ever go on.”