"Running Wild With Bear Grylls" Finds Home at a New Network!

National Geographic To Air Brand-New Season of Wildly Popular Survival Series with World Renowned Adventurer Bear Grylls as he and a New Lineup of Celebrities Push Themselves Beyond Their Limits

WASHINGTON, DC / PASADENA, CA Bear Grylls is no stranger to National Geographic, having been tapped as host and narrator of the network's upcoming natural history series Hostile Planet, premiering this April. And today, National Geographic announces an additional partnership with Grylls that the network will be the new home of wildly popular hit series Running Wild with Bear Grylls, which is currently in production and slated to premiere in December 2019. National Geographic Global Television Networks' President Courteney Monroe was joined by Grylls on stage during the network's TCA session to make the announcement.

The new season, which includes a new celebrity lineup of adventurers, will transport viewers across remote locations in the US and around the world, including the jagged cliffs of Sardinia; a massive glacier in Iceland; the deep jungles and remote islands of Panama; and the deserts and canyons of Utah. These celebrities will push beyond their limits to see if they can endure the harsh wilderness in their high-octane, action-based, fear-tackling journeys. The intrepid cast members will face their deepest fears and tackle everything from wild animals to rock repelling as they will journey through some of the world's most unforgiving wildernesses.

"I'm so proud to have joined the National Geographic family, whose brand is synonymous with adventure," says Grylls. "Sharing an epic wilderness journey with these world-renowned celebrities and getting to know the human side of them along the way is the magic of this show. Ultimately, we aim to inspire people to break free from their comfort zones and embrace the adventurous spirit that we all possess."

"Bear is the perfect fit National Geographic, and we're fortunate that he's not only the face of the upcoming Hostile Planet, but that he's also brought home his high-adrenaline series Running Wild with Bear Grylls," says Geoff Daniels, executive vice president of global unscripted entertainment for National Geographic Channels. "This season has the DNA to be the most action packed one yet with bigger and bolder physical challenges, more of Bear's totally innovative, spur-of-the-moment survival tricks and plenty of gut-wrenching and unforgettable field-inspired 'dining' experiences. In addition, we're creating the most visually immersive, exotic, harrowing and downright beautiful looking season to date."

Throughout the past year, National Geographic has aired episodes of the previous seasons of Running Wild with Bear Grylls.

Running Wild with Bear Grylls was developed by Grylls and Delbert Shoopman. The series is produced by Electus, a Propagate Company, and Bear Grylls Ventures. For Electus and Bear Grylls Ventures, Bear Grylls serves as executive producer along with Chris Grant, Drew Buckley, Ben Silverman, Howard Owens, Rob Buchta and Delbert Shoopman. For National Geographic, Bengt Anderson is executive producer. Geoff Daniels is executive vice president of global unscripted entertainment for National Geographic Channels.

About Bear Grylls

Bear Grylls has become known worldwide as one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. His journey to this acclaim started on a small island off the U.K. coast where his late father taught him to climb and sail. Trained from a young age in martial arts, Grylls spent three years as a soldier in the British Special Forces as part of 21st SAS Regiment. It was here that he perfected many of the survival skills that his fans all over the world enjoy as he pitted himself against the worst of Mother Nature. Despite a free-fall parachuting accident in Africa, where he broke his back in three places and endured many months in military rehabilitation, Grylls went on to become one of the youngest climbers ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He then went on to star in seven seasons of the Discovery Channel's Emmy award-nominated "Man vs. Wild" TV series, which became one of the most watched shows on the planet, reaching an estimated 1.2 billion viewers. Since then, he has hosted more extreme adventure TV shows across more global networks than anyone else in the world including the BAFTA award-winning "The Island With Bear Grylls," "Bear Grylls' Survival School," "Man vs. Wild," "Running Wild" for NBC and "Absolute Wild" for Chinese TV. He is a No. 1 best-selling author, an honorary colonel to the Royal Marine Commandos and the youngest-ever chief scout, an inspiration to 55 million scouts worldwide.

About National Geographic Partners LLC

National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic's media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children's media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 131 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers ... and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.