Bear Grylls helped to baptise Russell Brand in the River Thames

Bear Grylls has confirmed he stood by Russell Brand’s side when the comedian was baptised in the River Thames last week.

Brand shared a video to social media detailing how Grylls was one of two men who “flanked him” during the ceremony where he lives in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

The 48-year-old comedian had previously called baptism an “opportunity to leave the past behind”, less than a year after a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary exposed allegations of sexual assault against him.

“Week one as a Christian has been amazing,” Brand