Bear Grylls describes how Prince George’s ‘eyes lit up’ when young royals ate ants

Bear Grylls has recalled how he got Prince George to eat an ant and said it was a “privilege” to give the future king the insect.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain the adventurer and TV star revealed the eight-year-old royal’s eyes lit up after trying the bug and called him a “little hero” for giving it a go.

The morning show’s co-host Susanna Reid asked: “You encouraged President Obama to eat a half-eaten salmon, you also encouraged our future king to eat some ants, didn’t you?”

Grylls, 47, explained: “Well I didn’t really mean to, I mean we were doing something for Prince William’s Kings Cup event, we were down there and the royal family were there.

“And it was actually the Duchess of Cambridge’s mother said ‘Would you come and just say hi to Prince George, he’s a big fan of your Netflix adventure interactive show’.

“And so we were chatting, and he was down here, and just as we were chatting a stream of ants went across his feet, and him and me looked at them, he looked at me with those amazed wide eyes, and I said ‘Come on we’ve got to eat one’.

“And he said ‘Oh really?’ and we ate, and it was a privilege to give the future King his first ant, and his eyes lit up as they do with anyone when they’re out in the wild and they face a few fears and they overcome them, so good for him. What a little hero.”

Reid asked “what do ants taste like?” to which he replied: “A little zingy, but that’s a formic acid in the stomach and it’s all vitamin C, it’s OK.”

Co-host Martin Lewis added: “You see, look at royalty, he’s already that age and he’s eaten an ant, I’ve gotten to nearly 50 and I’ve never eaten one.”

The adventurer also discussed when he got former US president Barack Obama to eat an unusual food when he joined him on his programme Running Wild With Bear Grylls in 2015.

He revealed that he had come across salmon carcasses along the river which had been partially eaten by bears and wanted to share them with Mr Obama for their meal but the US Secret Service tried to intervene.

He said: “Secret service went ‘No, firstly of all he never eats on camera or drinks, if we do that we’ll have to have a special salmon ready’.”

However, he recalled that the former president did not ask for the special salmon and instead helped cook the one scavenged by Grylls and ate it with the adventurer, while the film crew dined on the “fancy salmon” that night.