Bear Grylls has said that Sir David Attenborough's traditional approach to natural history is "a bit dry" for today's young audience.

The former SAS trooper and television adventurer is set to follow in the octogenarian's footsteps with his new ITV natural history series, Britain's Biggest Adventures.

"If it's just natural history it can be a bit dry," he told Radio Times. "When Attenborough was 25 it was totally not dry because it was totally new, but to do something for young people now, it needs that adventure, I think, to inspire them."

While Sir David is regarded as one of Britain's best broadcasters for his informative, softly-spoken approach, Grylls, 41, will be opting for death-defying stunts, including diving without any breathing equipment to 52 feet in search of mantis shrimp.

But he acknowledges that he will have Sir David Attenborough in part to thank for the success of his new series.

"I have a sneaky suspicion that these shows are going to do, accidentally, really well. If you look at the success of the Attenborough stuff, and Coast over the years, and some of the adventure stuff we've done, I think this is a really smart, simple, uncomplicated combination of all those things," he said.

Grylls made it clear that he was not criticising Attenborough - who holds 31 honorary degrees from British universities, more than any other person - adding that he was "a personal hero, a legend and a humble, great man".

In the interview, Grylls also defended his controversial decision to leave his 12-year-old son Jesse stranded on a outcrop of rocks off the coast of North Wales in August for an RNLI training drill.

"They asked me to do the exercise, they took the pictures, and all of the local RNLI love it," he said.