“But I don’t know, I think at heart my faith says we’re connected together and we need each other, and not to judge people and to love people.”
The pair have been friends since Brand appeared on the second season of Grylls’ show, Running Wild, in 2023, an episode that saw them explore the Scottish isles together.
In April the following year, Brand shared a photo of his baptism ceremony to Instagram, with Grylls pictured embracing him.
The survivalist has repeatedly defended his participation in the spiritual milestone since then.
In his first public comments, Grylls told the Daily Telegraph the baptism was “a real moment of humility and repentance”.
“You know what, whoever it is, you can’t only stand beside people who have had perfect journeys.
“People say to me, ‘What about the victims?’, if they’re victims. And I go, ‘Of course I stand beside everybody. We are called to love everybody and not to judge anyone.’”
Brand is accused of sexually assaulting four women between 1999 and 2005 and is set to stand trial in London later this year.
The pair became friends in 2023, with Grylls baptising Brand the following year. Photo / Russell Brand
The British celebrity has denied the allegations but admitted he had “consensual” sex with a 16-year-old on Megyn Kelly’s podcast earlier this year.
“I did sleep with a 16-year-old when I was 30. When I was 30, I was a very different person. I was a lot younger, and I was an immature 30-year-old.”
The age of consent in the United Kingdom, where the sexual activity is alleged to have occurred, is 16.
Brand said that while his relationships with women during his career have been consensual, he now believes the power imbalance meant they involved “exploitation”.
“Consensual sex with a lot of people, when there is a strong power differential, as there is when you are a famous man who has the ability to attract women that I had at that time, I think involves exploitation.”
Brand went on to describe himself as a “hedonist” and “exploiter of women”.
“I recognise that my sexual conduct in the past was selfish and I did not apply enough consideration, barely any I suppose, really, to how that sex was affecting other people”, he said.