Mr Grylls thrives on ignorance and confusion especially regarding his time with the SAS. Let's make it clear he was part of the Territorial Army - (21) SAS TA. He always says ex SAS or (21) SAS at a push but not the correct title of (21) SAS TA. Shame on you Mr Grylls, you so love to be vague with the truth.

For readers out there who really believe Grylls hype that (21) SAS TA is equal to (22) SAS, I say this to you the TA SAS are a very important cog within the Part-Time Territorial Army, some good guys who work very hard alongside their regular civilian jobs but don't compare them to being badged to (22) SAS. For instance, any guy wanting to join (22) from the TA (21) or (23) has to do full 6 mths intense (22) selection just like any other squaddie, no fast track allowance and very few ever make it. So does that say equal to you? Well... obviously Mr Grylls thinks so! Give him his due he's brilliant at spin and PR, obviously learnt that from his late politician Dad.

stevie, Monmouth, UK

I agree - entertainment is fine and depends on taste. But - giving actually questionable if not plainly wrong and dangerous survival advice?

On another note, making a show look like the real thing is one thing - that's how entertainment industry works. Actually explicitly lying about it is another. I think among typical outdoorspeople, honesty is highly regarded, almost genetically so. As opposed to armchair wannabees?

Matjaz, Norg, NL

As I've said on other post of this story.
Your missing the point. He led people to believe it was real and his misinformation could get someone killed.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has a very open policy about exploring and visitors do get lost often. If they saw his show and followed his bad advice, most likely they would never be seen again. I've been hiking and photographing the park and active flows for 16 years. I've done a show with the Travel Channel.
I've also helped lost hikers on numerous occasions.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing when I first saw the show. More so I couldn't belive the Discovery Channel allowed it. There's another show "I Shouldn't be Alive" about the lost hiker a couple years ago. Lots of lies by that guy and most likely he faked it.
That's a whole story in it's self.

Bryan Lowry, Kailua Kona, Hawaii

I think its a hoot. Bear kipping in a hotel whilst the world thinks he's parked up a tree with snakes for company.
I'd still rather watch Bear's faked reality TV than that mind numbing Big Brother brain rot.

As the SAS motto says 'Who Dares Wins' Sadly on this occassion the Bold Bear lost.

act, Glasgow, Scotland

Fake TV has been going on for many years with the likes of The Jerry Springer Show and American Wrestling in particular which were originally portrayed as real and not staged. I suppose now all of these types of programmes will need to come clean? The whole point of these programmes is to maximise viewing figures by being as outrages as possible.....its all back fired now and the gullible majority who believed it to be real will need to be informed of TV deceptions. This would be good as it would encourage quality TV and filter out all the junk.

Mike Smith, NORWICH, Norfolk

Its a mistake to think anything on telly is totally real. Basically Bear Grylls is very entertaining. >There are several obvious logical deductions that can be made by watching a Bear Grylls episode. Its obvious that he is not alone as it appears to be filmed by a camera man. Often there are very lucky breaks that help Bear on his way, like finding water in a desert. In reality he probably would not make it and probably die like a dog!. Thats not the point of a telly program demonstrating how to survive. Also when one considers that he probably does know survival skills and how hard it is, a hotel once in a while is not a bad thing if you have to be on TV you and don't want to appear half dead. The basic message from Bear if you find yours stranded in a harsh environment is "find civilization quickly". Other survival programs teach you how to weave a grass skirt then set fire to it, not how to find other people with food. Journalism is more guilty of distorting reality.

L. Ayers, Aylesbury, Bucks

Good grief - it's television. Does anyone really expect reality in their reality shows? It is entertainment. Getting survival tips from the Discovery channel is like getting history from Oliver Stone and Mel Gibson.

Give Bear a break. He's entertaining.

Leonid Ardov, Augusta, Georgia, USA

Firstly he never claimed to be a 'reguar' former SAS soldier, but 21 SAS artists rifles have a fair bit of experience in extreme conditions which gives him plenty of relevant experience for this sort of thing. Secondly, on channel four at least (I've never seen the programme broadcast on discovery), the programme was never marketed as a piece of reality television or a gameshow - it's a documentry in which Grylls showcases various survival techniques in extreme enviroments, which it does so no deception there.

The people who consider this 'faking' it are probably the same people who think puppet shows are made with 'real' tiny people, or who watch a travel show like Michael Palin's 'Pole-to-Pole' and think that the host is travelling without support crews and roughing it in one long journey(not driving out to fancy hotels or flying home regularly to visit family, as is the case).

Stop shouting about how you can see the strings, you're spoiling the puppet show for the rest of us.

Elliot Adams, Clare, Suffolk

Having cringed through the set up scenes on that driving instructor documentary, not so many years ago, nothing surprises me any more.

NM, Basingstoke, Hants, UK

HE IS NOT A FORMER REGULAR SAS SOLDIER

and why are people so concerned all of a sudden about fake TV we all know it happens in "the buisness" thats why there a million stuck up so called celebs who have lived fake lives for so long... hyped up TV :-) ...

lee jones, leeds, uk

According to the Discovery Channel site and everything they say on the show including Bear himself he WAS a SAS soldier!

Pat, St Johns, MI

A couple of weeks ago I saw Bear on Ainsley's "Meals in minutes".

Ken Wyatt, Todmorden, UK