Netflix Axes Popular Show After Just 1 Season

Bear Grylls and Holly Willoughby’s Celebrity Bear Hunt “was just so expensive to make,” according to a source.

June 3, 2025, 10:22am

PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 02: Netflix logo is displayed during the 'Paris Games Week' on November 02, 2017 in Paris, France. Netflix is an American company offering streaming movies and TV series on the Internet. 'Paris Games Week' is an international trade fair for video games and runs from November 01 to November 5, 2017.

The hunt is over for Bear Grylls.

The survival expert’s big budget Netflix original competition series Celebrity Bear Hunt has been canceled after just a single season, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday, citing costs as the reason for the axing.

Videos by PopCulture.com

The cancellation news, which Netflix hasn’t officially confirmed, comes just months after the series premiered on Netflix in February and just two weeks after Grylls expressed hope for a Season 2 renewal. Discussing the show’s future on BBC Radio 2, Grylls said, “God willing, we are bringing Bear Hunt back.” He also teased that discussions had been held regarding a second season and the possibility of transitioning Celebrity Bear Hunt into a live format, “so it’s going to be a live version, which Netflix have never done before – raw, real, hunt them down!”

Hosted by Holly Willoughby, Celebrity Bear Hunt saw 12 British celebrities dropped into a Costa Rican jungle, where they were hunted by Grylls and eliminated one-by-one. The show had seemed poised for a Season 2 pickup. After premiering on Netflix on Wednesday, Feb. 5, Celebrity Bear Hunt was the show subscribers said they “can’t stop watching.” The series quickly soared to the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s streaming charts.

However, according to a source who spoke the Daily Mail, while Celebrity Bear Hunt performed well for the platform, it’s success came with a hefty budget.

“Everyone was very proud of the show but when it came to it, it was just so expensive to make,” the source said. “You had to have a whole set in Costa Rica, loads of staff and loads of celebrities. The overheads were eyewatering.”

Although cheaper locations were reportedly looked at for Season 2, nothing “appeared to be suitable,” and the decision was ultimately made to cancel the series after just a single season. Neither Grylls nor Willoughby have commented on the reported cancellation at this time.

While it seems that Celebrity Bear Hunt will not return for a second season, fans of the series can still watch the show’s debut season on Netflix. The Season 1 cast includes Spice Girl singer Mel B, three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker, TV chef and rapper Big Zuu, Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas, The Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas, former international rugby player Danny Cipriani, The Saturdays’ singer Una Healy, model and TV host Leomie Anderson, model Lottie Moss, TV presenter Steph McGovern, TV personality Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, and Top Boy actor Kola Bokinni.