RICHARD EDEN: How Bear Grylls helped to baptise Russell Brand in the Thames after the comic converted to Christianity [Video]

17:05 EDT 06 May 2024, updated 18:16 EDT 06 May 2024

He survived a back-breaking parachute accident and reached the summit of Mount Everest 18 months later at the age of 23, but now Bear Grylls has taken on perhaps his most daunting challenge – converting lewd comic Russell Brand to Christianity.

The Daily Mail can disclose that Grylls, 49, who is Chief Scout and counts the Prince and Princess of Wales among his friends, took part in the baptism of Brand in the Thames last week.

‘I want to thank Bear Grylls and my mate Joe, the two men that stood either side of me and flanked me for the baptism itself,’ Brand confirms on social media. 

‘Week one as a Christian has been amazing. The ceremony itself was incredible.’

The anarchic comedian turned conspiracy theorist, who lives in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, says the christening took place ‘at home and in the River Thames’.