HOT TV CHOICE

TV survivalist loon Bear Grylls has clearly done all right for himself. Well enough, at least, to have bought his own island.

OK, so it’s not Madagascar, nor the Isle of Man, but it’s a private island off the north-west coast of Wales, so, come on, that’s still not bad.

And it’s there that we’re heading tonight for this week’s episode of LOUIS THEROUX INTERVIEWS… (9pm, BBC Two).

It’s a chance for Louis to get to know the Bear behind the telly facade, or at least to figure out whether or not those are actually different things. Bear does admit that some of the stuff he’s done for the camera goes against conventional survival advice. That’s basically because doing it his way makes for better telly.

“We’re making a survival entertainment show,” he points out. “The thing is, textbook survival is quite boring. Textbook survival says, ‘Don’t take any risks, stay put, wait for rescue.’

“That is the correct thing to do in an emergency.

“But what if nobody is coming to rescue you, and all you’ve got is a broken knife and one boot..?” He also admits his dietary habits have changed. After years of eating unspeakable stuff in the wild, he turned vegan for some time. And then turned back.

Louis seems to understand why. “One word,” he says. “Lentils.”

“Terrible,” Bear replies. “I used to break wind all the time. I haven’t broken wind for years now.”

Talking of which, someone’s making a recipe containing nothing but turnips on MASTERCHEF: THE PROFESSIONALS (9pm, BBC One).