Holly Willoughby seemingly struggled to hear words of praise about herself from Bear Grylls, following their stint together on Celebrity Bear Hunt. The 44-year-old took on hosting duties for Bear's new Netflix show, in which 12 celebrities do what it takes to escape the survival expert in a Costa Rican jungle. Praising Holly at the show's red carpet premiere, 50-year-old Bear said: "Holly's such a key part of this, not only for them, but also for me.
"You were a light and love and empathy to all of these people, you were the yin to my yang.". In response to his kind words, Holly reportedly said: "Thank you, this is slightly embarrassing.". Not stopping there, Bear went on to say the presenter "carried" him through the red carpet interviews to promote the show. He added, according to Closer Magazine: "Holly was a dream, I've never really worked with anyone else like that before.
"She's just gentle, heart led. She was nervous, she was in at the deep end.". Holly, who previously fronted This Morning, also returned the praise by calling the survival expert "inspiring". She went on to say that Bear helped the celebrities be "so brave" throughout the challenge, adding: "Bear can get anybody to do anything, you've very inspiring. "There were a few moments on this show where I had to dig deep and have a strong word with myself.
"At those times, it was good to have someone like Bear next to you saying that being brave is about using that fear, harnessing it and doing it anyway," she added. Holly not only presented the show, but took part in one of Bear's daunting tasks after he put her name forward. Seemingly apprehensive at first, she soon put the nerves behind her and jumped off of a cliff into water. The presenter reportedly earned a staggering £1million for her part on the show, despite little screen time.
A television insider told Mail Online: "Viewers will be surprised just how little she features in the final version of the programme given all the attention there's been surrounding the show. "Holly is a huge talent and very popular with viewers, plus she has decades of experience of presenting big TV shows, particularly live TV which requires a level of excellence few presenters have. "But in the final edit of Celebrity Bear Hunt she plays second fiddle to leading man Bear, and even gets less screen time than the dozen celebrities who are competing.".
