ALISON BOSHOFF: Why Bear Grylls' friends are so flabbergasted he's become a ... trends now
Sitting cross-legged with a crucifix nestling in his bronzed chest, Russell Brand's latest reinvention is a transformation for the ages.
Gone is the whiskery alternative-looking geezer in a none-too-clean knitted beanie, spouting conspiracy theories for his devoted online subscribers.
This new Brand is scrubbed clean, appearing almost to glow with some sort of reflected saintliness.
It's a long way from the peak of his first wave of success as a comedian 20 years ago, when Brand was the high priest of toxic masculinity — the nadir of which came with the Andrew Sachs scandal, where he and co-host Jonathan Ross brutally humiliated the comedian, leaving him explicit voicemails about his granddaughter live on Brand's Radio 2 show.
And today — let us not forget — Brand remains under investigation by the Met Police over a number of serious allegations of sexual assault stretching back years.
Russell Brand revealed this week that he was baptised in the River Thames. He said Bear Grylls, who, along with another friend, held him as he was immersed in the waters
Somehow, though, he has metamorphosed into a man who wants to talk about God dwelling in him, and who quotes verses from the Book of Galatians in the New Testament.
Cynics may think it's all a publicity stunt — but to be fair, Brand has been increasingly musing about spirituality for some years.
Now it seems that the very man who presented a comedy routine titled Messiah Complex in 2013 has found his very own John the Baptist.
Step forward, survival expert, old Etonian, Chief Scout and committed Christian Bear Grylls. With his help, Brand has literally taken the plunge, revealing this week that he was baptised in the Thames, with Grylls, one of two friends who held him as he was immersed in its waters.
'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 confirmed on social media. 'Week one as a Christian has been amazing. The ceremony itself was incredible.' Ever verbose, he added he felt 'changed, transitioned ... nourished and held'.
Brand has a riverside home in genteel Marlow in Buckinghamshire and it's thought this is where the christening was conducted.
Friends of Grylls tell me that they were utterly agog that he was acting as a spiritual mentor to Brand.
One schoolfriend let fly a string of astonished expletives at the news, before explaining: 'It makes perfect sense when you view this as a faith issue. Anyone who repents is saved, and if you have strong belief like Bear then that is the only consideration. Only God judges! But I am a bit surprised.'
Brand posted this picture of himself with Grylls and another friend during his baptism in the River Thames
Grylls himself — a lifelong Christian — explained: 'Faith and spiritual moments in our lives are really personal, but it is a privilege to stand beside anyone when they express a humble need for forgiveness and strength from above. Friendships when we go through tough times are worth so much.'
The bromance between the two men is rather striking.
They seem to have met last year when Brand took part in the National Geographic show Running Wild with Bear Grylls, streamed on AppleTV+, where Brand mused about life, addiction and spirituality in the Hebrides while Grylls, one year his senior, nodded encouragement.
For all that onscreen support, Grylls' friends tell me they were astonished that the relationship had carried on after filming.
But if you leave God out of it, then what Brand has also done is found himself a powerful mentor in Grylls. Over the past two decades, Grylls has created his own entity which sits somewhere between a cult of personality and a media brand.
Bear Grylls Inc spans multiple TV shows, animated movies, books, two festivals, adventure camps, theme parks, a mental fitness app and coaching enterprise, Becoming X, which sells lessons in resilience to schools.
All are sold on his name and it makes Brand's own narcissistic whinnying look like small potatoes. Even Grylls' involvement in two tax avoidance schemes and a couple
