Bear Grylls says he believed Russell Brand‘s conversion to Christianity ‘seemed genuine’ when he helped to baptise the disgraced rapist in the River Thames.
The Man Vs Wild star and former SAS soldier helped to lower Brand, 51, into waters close to the comedian’s house in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire in April 2024.
But Grylls, among Britain’s best known Christians, has faced calls to issue a statement on why he took part in the ceremony months after Brand had been accused of rape and sexual assault following a media investigation.
Brand was found guilty of raping a fan and sexually assaulting three women yesterday. At the time of the baptism, he had not been charged with any offences.
This morning, Grylls posted a statement on X, saying his attendance as a ‘guest’ at the baptism was ‘part of our calling as men and women of faith’, and said he had believed Brand’s born-again faith was real ‘at the time’.
Reacting to the news of the guilty verdict, Grylls wrote: ‘Brand’s faith seemed genuine to me at the time when I was a guest at his private baptism.
‘I have attended a few now. Even visiting in prisons with people who have committed terrible crimes.
‘It’s part of our calling as men and women of faith, to love and serve anyone. It is the sick that need healing.
‘Judgment is for the courts and God… I wouldn’t want to ever discourage someone’s coming to faith.
‘It is right that justice has now been served. I can’t imagine how hard this time has been for the victims, the heroes of the day.’
Russell Brand embracing Bear Grylls and friend and former boxer Joe McCann following his baptism in the Thames in April 2024
In a post on X Grylls said he believed Brand’s conversion to Christianity was ‘genuine’ at the time he attended the baptism
Brand and Grylls became friends during filming of the reality show Running Wild (pictured)
An earlier version of the post stated that Grylls did not want to ‘not support’ someone’s conversion to Christianity, but this passage was removed two minutes after it was first published.
The baptism came several months after sexual assault allegations were first made public following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4 that was published in September 2023.
Brand then announced his conversion to Christianity in early 2024 – and posted a picture of himself embracing Grylls and another friend, the boxer Joe McCann, on Instagram in the Thames in April.
He captioned the image: ‘Me, Bear Grylls, The River Thames and of course, The Holy Spirit. #baptism.’
Grylls has previously defended his involvement in the baptism, having befriended Brand during filming of the reality show Running Wild.
He told the Daily Mail that it was ‘a privilege to stand beside anyone when they express a humble need for forgiveness’.
Grylls has made no secret of his faith, publishing devotional book Soul Fuel in 2019, and The Greatest Story Ever Told: An Eyewitness Account, a retelling of the story of Jesus, in 2025.
Brand was convicted of rape and three counts of sexual assault following the four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.
In the run-up to the trial, Brand – once renowned as an eccentric, libidinous rogue – had sought to cultivate a new image as a born-again Christian, having dabbled with spiritualism and Hinduism in the past.
He published a book entitled How To Become A Christian In 7 Days in May, and carried a Bible into court, wearing a crucifix around his neck, in February as he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Videos released by the Metropolitan Police following his conviction showed that he sat in police interviews with a copy of the Bible in front of him.
Brand has sought to reinvent himself as a born-again Christian after announcing his conversion months after sexual assault allegations were made public
Brand painfully fumbled his words as he was challenged by broadcaster Piers Morgan on his favourite verses and scripture.
Morgan maintained an agonising silence as Brand flicked through the Bible to find what he had said was a verse that carried particularly meaning.
He preyed on women he encountered while becoming one of Britain’s best-known stand-up comedians, a lauded TV and radio host, and a Hollywood movie star.
His victims came to court to reveal how Brand had forced them into sexual activity, sometimes within seconds of them first meeting, using his fame to determinedly pursue a goal of sex with 5,000 women.
Southwark Crown Court heard Brand, who once boasted he would not relent in his pursuit of sex before getting his ‘birthright orgasm’, ignored pleas from women for him to stop.
Six women gave evidence against Brand, while the former comedian, who was once married to Katy Perry, could not persuade any of his celebrity friends or former showbiz colleagues to give evidence in his defence.
He was cleared of two further charges of rape and one allegation of attempted indecent assault.
Today also saw Katherine Ryan describe her ‘grief and relief’ following Brand’s conviction.
The Canadian comic had previously spoken of an unnamed ‘predator’ in the entertainment industry that was widely speculated to be Brand, who appeared alongside her on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle in 2018.
She said on her podcast Telling Everybody Everything, said: ‘It really made me feel just quite dysregulated again, caught off-guard, emotional, in awe of the survivors who also had nothing to gain.
‘I will never be someone who like, dances on graves. There has been some justice done today. There’s a level of relief, but there’s grief alongside relief.’
