# Grylls admitted wearing a flotation device in the pilot episode to ride down a river in a staged shot, citing safety reasons. He claimed that he was displeased with the decision, which came from Discovery producers, and has since been able to avoid the use of such devices.[16]
# The director of the Desert Island episode, Graham Strong, noted that a diver was at hand who checked for sharks while Bear was adrift (he did not spot the tigers, only reef sharks), and that "we" beat on the raft to scare the tiger sharks away.
# In the Copper Canyon, Mexico episode, director Scott Tankard says that the local Indian tribe, the Rarámuri Indians, acted as their guides.[17]
# According to the survival consultant for the show's Sierra Nevada and Desert Island episodes, Mark Wienart of Lifesong Adventures, the "wild" horses in the Sierra Nevada episode were shipped in for a choreographed feature.[18][19][11]
# The Desert Island raft was not made by Bear; it was made by a team of people over a week and a half, using rope, and was disassembled for Bear to put together on camera.[20][19][11]
# Crew members simulated molten lava by using smoke machines and hot coals. The smoke machines were used to simulate poisonous sulphur dioxide, though Grylls was not in fact facing real danger.[6]
# Hiring a man in a bear suit because they could not get a tame bear, running the show with a "script" (with scheduled scenes such as "Scene 10 - Grizzly Attacks Camp"), pretending that a snake found dead on the side of a road was alive, eating steak inside a badger skin, and hoisting Bear into a tree to make it look like his parachute "snagged".
* In the Everglades episode, Bear admits that the crew helped him to build his shelter.
* In the Iceland episode, Bear admits that the dead sheep was left by a local farmer so that he could use it for a demonstration.
* In the Mexico episode, Bear admits that he used climbing equipment during a climb, and that the trout he caught was placed there by the crew.
* In the Ecuador episode, Bear admits that the crew helped him to build the ladder, and that he slept indoors.
* In the Scotland episode, Bear admits that the rabbit was placed there by the crew, and Bear was close to civilization.
* In the Sierra Nevada episode, Bear admits that the crew helps him to build a raft.