Grylls to host ‘toughest global endurance race on Earth’
BEAR GRYLLS will host a new Amazon series being billed as the “toughest global outdoor multisport endurance race on Earth”. The TV adventurer will host
Eco-Challenge 2019, in which teams of men and women will tackle challenges over a more than 300-mile race course.
The rebooted series is produced by Mark Burnett, who is responsible for the US versions of The Apprentice and Shark Tank.
It was one of a host of announcements made during the star-studded Prime Video Presents event in London yesterday.
Speaking on stage, Grylls said: “This is a race like no other, you never leave a man behind. If somebody quits, the whole team is out. It’s hard and unforgiving but fosters a spirit that we are in this, one and all.
“It’s the ultimate race with the ethos many are called but few are chosen, and seeing those teams go to the limit is compelling. I get such a kick out of bringing to millions of people this spirit of endeavour, never giving up and loving and protecting our world.”
Hollywood superstar Julia Roberts also appeared at the panel to talk about her first leading role in a TV series in Homecoming, based on a fiction podcast of the same name.
She said: “I heard the podcast and loved it because it harkened back to listening to a story together on the radio or on books out loud and you’re imagining everything.
“I think that is where the inspiration as artists starts, imagining what it would look like.
“I was really attracted to that and when Sam (Esmail, the showrunner) called me – we seem like different people but we are kind of the same but my hair is much longer – and we were like 20-year friends.”
She added: “TV is not for the faint of heart for sure, but we were very efficient and aligned and we had great momentum.”
Model and actress Cara Delevingne was among the other talent present.
Speaking about her new Amazon show Carnival Row, she said she was drawn to “the social, political themes” of the project.
Her co-star Orlando Bloom added: “It’s a sort of Dickensian, steam punk, Victorian world with these remarkable and beautiful mythical creatures.
“The world they have built, the epic size of the story they were creating.”
John Krasinski appeared at the panel on a break from filming to hint at details of the second series of Jack Ryan.
This is a race like no other, you never leave a man behind. TV adventurer Bear Grylls on his new Amazon show Eco-Challenge 2019.