ONE of the greatest fans of adventurer and TV presenter Bear Grylls has earned the right to run one of his hero’s gyms in Marlborough after a year under his wing.

Nathan Meek, 21, joined BG Epic Training, off Elcot Lane in Marlborough, last January as a personal trainer.

The gym was the first of a new venture created by Mr Grylls, who used to live near Marlborough, and his business partner Natalie Summers.

Mr Meek had been introduced to her and the television personality through a colleague in his former workplace, who had been acting as a therapist for Mr Grylls.

Now, after a year of training, Mr Meek has agreed to become the official franchisee of the gym with Mr Grylls’ name.

The 40-year-old adventurer was Mr Meek’s role model years before they met.

He said: “He was my idol. I can’t really describe it. I was just working with someone and she mentioned knowing Bear and I said ‘are you kidding me?’

“When I met him, my colleague had already told him about me and he was so enthusiastic for me to jump on.

“He is to me, how David Beckham is to my friends. It’s like David Beckham asking one of my friends to play in his football team. He is the nicest guy in the world, he is so motivating.

“He was so interested in what my life was about. It was nice for him to take such an interest in what I wanted to do.”

With his media responsibilities as Chief Scout, Mr Grylls only visits the gym once every three months, but tries to remain in touch with Mr Meek through email.

The gym’s selling point is the speed of the workout users do, with all of the routines used by the adventurer himself. They take 30 minutes and focus upon body weight work.