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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Monday that he will be testing his mettle against the forces of nature, accompanied by the world famous former SAS trooper Bear Grylls, on the latter’s show ‘Man vs. Wild.’
A 45-second trailer was released to promote the show, which the Discovery Channel describes as a “frank and freewheeling journey,” due to air on August 12. The channel expects it to be broadcast in 180 countries.
In the clip, the Indian PM embraces his wilderness setting, rowing a boat and crafting an improvised spear. Modi stares at his hand-made weapon and says: “I will keep this with me for you,” to which Grylls replies: “You are the most important man in India; my job is to keep you alive.”
People across 180 countries will get to see the unknown side of PM @narendramodi as he ventures into Indian wilderness to create awareness about animal conservation & environmental change. Catch Man Vs Wild with PM Modi @DiscoveryIN on August 12 @ 9 pm. #PMModionDiscovery pic.twitter.com/MW2E6aMleE
— Bear Grylls (@BearGrylls) July 29, 2019
Shot in Uttarakhand’s Jim Corbett National Park, the PM’s adventure is an effort to boost awareness of both animal conservation and environmental causes like climate change.
Grylls said he was “truly honored” to accompany Modi through the Indian wilderness, but he is no stranger to high-profile guests, having previously hosted Barack Obama on the show.
Twitter users were effusive in their praise for Modi’s adventurous spirit upon the hearing news, hailing his participation as “awesome!!” and saying the PM is “the coolest on this planet”. Others questioned Modi’s television appearance, citing a worryingly high unemployment rate as more worthy of his attention.
Barack Obama ‘flouted secret service rules’ for Bear Grylls challenge
(Added by GVS News Desk)
President Obama ate a fish that had been half-chomped on by a bear and took on perilously steep slopes in an episode of the survival expert’s television show.
Bear Grylls has spoken of how President Obama flouted the protocol of his secret service to take up every challenge thrown at him, when he appeared on the survival guru’s show.
Grylls, British ex-SAS soldier and television host, said Mr Obama’s security team were on tenterhooks, as he and the president spent the day trekking through the Alaskan wilderness filming a special episode of “Running Wild”.
Tomorrow night airing only on @discovery_uk – I go wild with former US President @barackobama – was such an honour of a journey to do whilst he was still in the White House. He had such a curious adventure spirit and a deep care to protect planet earth..… https://t.co/LaN0f9AVoX pic.twitter.com/q9Mjw4KjHy
— Bear Grylls (@BearGrylls) May 23, 2018
“It was different show to normal due to the 60 or so Secret Service agents and helicopters hovering above,” Grylls told the Absolute Radio Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show. “But [Mr Obama] was so down to earth and couldn’t have been nicer.”
The secret service had spent time laying down the rules of what Grylls could and could not do with the president: “It’s funny, they said lots of things beforehand,” he said. “For example, if he was eating anything, then it had to be approved by his chef, as did anything he drank, and that he couldn’t do anything too dangerous, but on the day I decided to just wing it.”
But as soon as the day began, the survival expert said, he realized that the president “really wanted to get stuck in”.
“I found an old fish that a bear had munched on beforehand and cooked it up for him. We shared water bottles, food…everything,” he said.
Grylls then proceeded to lead Mr Obama down a mountain: “We were going down this steep slope and the secret service were saying it was too dangerous,” he said. “So I told the president that they didn’t think he could do it but was like ‘of course I can…I’ll show them…c’mon let’s go!’
“We ended up doing everything and he loved it. Afterwards, I thought I was going to get a special telling off from the secret service guys, but they all laughed and had a good time.”
In the days before the show was filmed, Grylls had warned that he was going to give America’s commander-in-chief the same tough treatment that he gives his other guests.
Read more: The Untold Truth Of Bear Grylls
“I will not deny your suspicion that there may have been some suggestions put forward by the Bear Grylls team that were not approved by the Secret Service,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary told reporters on Air Force One during the flight to Alaska.
Grylls said he was warned by Mr Obama’s protocol staff that he could not give the president any gifts. But at the end of the filming he gave him his knife and said that the president should keep it “as a last line of defense if anybody ever got through the secret service”.
“I had a great email a few days later from his team saying that he absolutely loves the knife and he keeps playing with it! Boys love their toys,” he said.
RT with additional input by GVS News Desk