He is the son of Conservative politician Sir Michael Grylls, who was implicated in the cash-for-questions affair, and Sarah, Lady Grylls.[10] Lady Grylls is the daughter of politician Patricia Ford,[11] briefly an Ulster Unionist Party MP, and cricketer and businessman Neville Ford. Grylls has one sibling, an elder sister, Lara Fawcett, an interior design public relations agent and cardio-tennis coach, who gave him the nickname 'Bear' when he was a week old.[12]