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Grylls, a former Special Forces soldier, was one of the youngest climbers to reach the summit of Everest and is now famous across the world as the star of the Born Survivor and Man vs Wild television shows.

He is also Chief Scout to 28 million Scouts worldwide. Girls are now allowed to be Scouts despite the founder of the movement, Robert Baden-Powell, decreeing that the sexes should be separated and girls should join the Guides instead.

Grylls insisted that Lord Baden-Powell would be pleased with the situation today, when more girls than boys are joining the organisation.

He said: "Baden-Powell did say that, but he was also the person who said the Scouts always had to change because when you stop changing you get stale. So I think if he could see scouting today, with more girls joining the Scouts than ever before, he would just say, 'Way to go'. This is exactly what the Scouts should be.

"And it's interesting the number of girls joining but it doesn't surprise me, because girls love adventure as well."

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