Your new series of Born Survivor is about to begin. Are you doing the same crazy stuff as before?
This has been the toughest series I've ever done: bigger, madder and badder! I was away for five months in total and we went to some really difficult places. When they dropped me into the desert in Namibia, the search and rescue guys said anyone without survival skills or water would be dead within three hours. The jungle in Indonesia was pretty interesting, too. The black swamps were filled with crocodiles that have been feeding on 65,000 human corpses since the tsunami in 2004. That was a foul, rancid place.

Which location was toughest?
Louisiana in the American deep south. I was up to my chest in swamp and it was full of these vicious Cotton Mouth snakes. I wrestled an alligator and killed it with a blunt penknife, which turned into an interesting battle! Mexico was pretty full-on, too. I got attacked by killer bees, which blinded me. I then had to deal with a pit viper that was going for me and the cameraman was having to tell me where it was as I couldn't see. I finally got it, skinned it and ate it. I kept the skin, peed in it and kept that for my fluids the next day. I was drinking my urine mixed with snake innards!

After the last series, you were accused of faking various things on the show...
The controversy was all pretty upsetting. You have to take the rough with the smooth in this business, but it is hard to take when you're out there risking your neck. In Zambia for this series, I got serious diarrhoea from eating a big grub - I had to go 40 times in one day. At one point, I was hanging off a cliff by one hand, desperately trying to get my trousers down. I had diarrhoea in mid-air - and that's in the show! You can't have someone accuse you of faking that, can you? People are always going to accuse you of certain things. That's a lesson I've learned. I have the No1 cable show in America, which is why I'm always going to get the odd missile sent my way.

Have you had to alter the way the show is made because of the accusations?
A little bit. Now we have to show more of the crew and the behind-the-scenes stuff. Plus if I get any help at all from the crew, I now have to acknowledge it: if it's pissing with rain and they help me get firewood, or something like that.

The crew have to go to all these places with you. They must be pretty hard themselves?
Yeah, they have to do about 90 per cent of what I do. They're the real heroes of the show. They're my best friends too. In the types of places we go to, we can't afford to make mistakes, so we really have to help each other out. Plus they have to carry the kit!

You put yourself in some crazy situations. What scares you?
I find heights quite difficult, even though I'm always doing mountain climbs and sky dives! To be honest, I get scared most days when we're filming, but we don't have to be superhuman; we just have to try and overcome our obstacles. Rooms full of strangers bother me too. My wife's always telling me to get over it. I'm riddled with anxieties!

BEAR'S TOPICAL TIPS!
Mr Grylls gives ZOO his expert survival opinion on some current news stories...

Camel spider on the loose in Essex!
"Soldiers are often scared of camel spiders because they think they are chasing them, but actually, they're just trying to get into their shadow. I ate a camel spider in the Sahara recently. They've got a big sack of goo behind the main body - it wasn't very nice. I whipped the pincers off and ate the rest."

David Blaine to hang upside down for three days!
"I spend a lot of time upside down, but not three days at a time! I do it most days, though. I'll hang up by my feet for about 20-30 seconds. I find it really gets you going in the morning. But the only time I've gone without food or water for three days was on selection for the SAS, at the end of the interrogation phase. That's not an experience
I'll ever be looking to repeat..."

Series of safety incidents scare plane passengers!
"People ask me where the safest place to sit is on a plane. You know what I say? First class! I keep trying to tell the executive producers of the show, but they don't seem to take any notice!"

PUB FACT: When Bear Grylls was filming in Siberia, he went under the ice at -35°C. He confirms: "My manhood wasn't very big at the time"

| The new series of Born Survivor starts on Discovery on 23 Sept and Channel 4 on 5 Oct. Bear Grylls' Great Outdoors Adventure (Channel 4 Books, £18.99) is out on 23 Oct