Bear Grylls has eaten his last piece of raw meat for the Discovery Channel.

Discovery Channel has terminated its relationship with Grylls, the British television personality and star of the network’s “Man vs. Wild.” Grylls, who joined the show when it launched launched in 2006, was fired by Discovery after he refused to participate in two unannounced projects he was contracted for, say sources. The sixth season of “Man Vs. Wild” wrapped in August.

This is not the first time Discovery has had a disagreement with its talent. In 2010, the network sued Deadliest Catch captains Jonathan and Andy Hillstrand for allegedly failing to complete work on the spinoff “Hillstranded.” The $3 million lawsuit prompted the Hillstrands and captain Sig Hansen to quit, though a month later the dispute was settled, the suit was dropped and all three returned to work on the show.

Grylls, 37, has parlayed his fame as an extreme outdoorsman into an international media career. He’s written nearly a dozen books, many of them survival guides. His memoir “Mud, Sweat and Tears” — due to be published in the U.S. in May — already is a best-seller in England and Australia. He’s landed numerous endorsement deals including with Dockers and Degree deodorant. There’s a “Man vs. Wild” video game, he has an iPhone app, and his clothing line is sold at REI and Walmart.

In other words, this guy isn’t going to have to dig up live worms for dinner anytime soon.

Grylls’ exploits on “Man Vs. Wild” (which averaged 1.1 million viewers on Discovery last season) have earned him numerous celebrity admirers. Jake Gyllenhaal, Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller have tagged along on some of Grylls’ adventures. But the show was beset with early controversies when it was revealed that some of Grylls’ escapades were enhanced or staged and that Grylls spent nights in local motels while he was purportedly left alone to fend for himself on a deserted island.

In 2007, the show was briefly taken off the air in the U.K. and Discovery began airing it with a disclaimer allowing that Grylls was not in fact left alone to survive in the wild. In subsequent episodes Grylls directly addresses the crew, and in the interest of transparency, each season featured a making-of episode.

Grylls’ rugged public persona has also bellied his personal wealth. A former member of the British Army’s Special Air Service, Grylls lives with his family on a private island in Wales (where there is no electricity). He also has a home in Malibu and a house barge on the Thames. In a recent New York Times profile, Grylls says he only hired a publicist last year and maintains that he’s “still always the scruffiest person at any meeting.”

Discovery had multiple additional projects in development with Grylls; though the exact nature of his contract dispute and subsequent firing was not known. Grylls has not commented on the matter.

‘HUNGER GAMES’ FANS LOVE THE MOVIE: It’s official: “Hunger Games” is the real deal.

Hundreds of fans who won tickets to Monday’s world premiere cheered for hours before any stars arrived, screamed when they did and kept the applause going right through the film.

“I thought it was amazing,” said Ruzena Zatko, 28, a fan of “The Hunger Games” books who drove from Las Vegas and spent two nights’ camped out in front of the Nokia Theatre to win passes to the premiere. “He stayed true to the book.”

Based on the best-seller by Suzanne Collins, “The Hunger Games” stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth as teens fighting for survival in a government-controlled world that hosts annual televised games in which young participants are forced to kill their opponents. It opens in theaters March 23.

This movie just might make someone a couple dollars.

Fans Ariel Pemberton and Amanda Shultz loved the book so much they doubted the film could match it, but they came away impressed with its look and feel.

Pemberton said it was “way more emotional” than the book, while Shultz enjoyed seeing Collins’ post-apocalyptic world come to life: “We all had different ideas what it looked like, so to see it was so cool.”

Box-office prognosticators say anticipation for “The Hunger Games” matches and may even surpass that for the “Twilight” movies. (The last “Twilight” film is due in the fall.) They predict “The Hunger Games” could bring in more than $100 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend.

Some have compared the two series. Each is aimed at young adults and features a female heroine with two potential suitors. But fans say the similarities end there.

“This doesn’t focus on the love triangle,” said 22-year-old Stephanie Zatko, a “Twilight” fan whose sister-in-law convinced her to check out “The Hunger Games.” “She’s actually doing something. Bella just sits there.”

“Katniss is a stronger female,” said Alyssa Walker, 20, who read all three books in the series. “The guys are a thing, too, but she does her own thing.”

Still, some in the crowd held homemade posters declaring themselves members of Team Peeta or Team Gale — Katniss’ two prospects.

“Hottest thing since sliced bread: Peeta,” read one sign. “Gale ensnared my heart,” read another.

About 400 fans lined the black carpet where the film’s stars arrived and sat alongside them at the premiere. Hundreds more lined up behind barricades across the street, toting cameras and signs.

“The passion of these fans is unlike anything I have ever been involved with,” said Elizabeth Banks, who plays Effie Trinket in the film. “For me the biggest star here is Suzanne Collins, who wrote the books and is the creator of this entire universe, all this pandemonium.”

Director Gary Ross thanked the author from the stage before introducing the film’s stars, saying, “None of us would be here without the wonderful, brilliant mind and imagination of Suzanne Collins.”

Wasn’t she on “Dynasty?”

Meanwhile, as the premiere wrapped, Zatko prepared for the long drive back to Las Vegas. “We’re totally sleep deprived,” she said. “But it was all worth it.”

eastwoods get reality SHOW: Clint Eastwood’s family is coming to TV in a new reality show, the E! network announced Tuesday. “Mrs. Eastwood & Company” will premiere May 20 as a 10-episode series.

The show spotlights Dina Eastwood, who has been married to the Oscar-winning actor-director since 1996. Also on hand are the Eastwoods’ 15-year-old daughter, Morgan, as well as 18-year-old Francesca, Clint Eastwood’s daughter with actress Frances Fisher.

Ruiz grew up in Fremont and graduated from Mission San Jose High School.

Rounding out the cast is the all-male, six-member vocal group Overtone, managed by Dina Eastwood. You have a problem with that, take it up with Dina’s husband.

Didn’t think so.

“Mrs. Eastwood & Company” is being filmed in the family’s hometown of Carmel, as well as in Los Angeles. Clint Eastwood is expected to make guest appearances … when he wants to, and not a second before.

HOUSEWIFE GATE: Jurors in Nicollette Sheridan’s wrongful termination case heard a set worker Tuesday describe an email he believed called for the destruction of files related to the firing of the actress from the hit show “Desperate Housewives.”

Construction coordinator Michael Reinhart took the witness stand over the objections of an attorney for series creator Marc Cherry and ABC, who suggested Reinhart might have been confused and misread the message.

Reinhart said he immediately deleted the message and believed it had been mistakenly sent to him after Sheridan sued in 2010.

He recalled that it contained the words “delete” “hard drive” and “Nicollette Sheridan,” but he could remember few other details. He said it made him uncomfortable and he tried to forget it but couldn’t.

He said he called Sheridan’s attorney Mark Baute on Sunday because he wanted both sides to have all the information.

“It started gnawing at me,” Reinhart said. “I began to lose sleep over it.”

Baute has accused Cherry and ABC officials of engaging in a conspiracy to make it appear the decision to fire Sheridan had been made months before an on-set dispute between the actress and Cherry in September 2008.

Sheridan claims Cherry struck her hard on her left temple during the argument, but the veteran TV writer maintains he tapped her to give her artistic direction.

The trial is in its final days and closing arguments had been expected Tuesday. A request by ABC attorney Adam Levin to delay the case for a forensic examination of Reinhart’s hard drive was denied. Still, the set worker’s testimony could prolong the trial.

Levin also said Baute apparently promised to find Reinhart work if he was fired for testifying in the case. Reinhart said he felt he was performing “professional suicide” by coming forward.

Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White said Sheridan’s attorneys did not invite the problems that Reinhart’s disclosure caused, and she felt the jury should determine how much weight to give his testimony.

Reinhart’s phone call Sunday created the latest twist in Sheridan’s trial, which has featured nine days of testimony so far.

He told jurors that immediately after talking to Baute, he left his home so he couldn’t be served with a subpoena then took his work computer out of his office. He brought the machine in his truck and White ordered him to turn it over to ABC attorneys for an examination.

Reinhart has worked on the series for all of its eight seasons,

Jurors have heard conflicting testimony throughout the case. A writer and co-executive producer said the decision to kill off Sheridan’s role wasn’t made until late 2008 — after a human resources investigation cleared Cherry of wrongdoing for the on-set dispute.

Numerous other witnesses, however, have said Cherry received permission to kill the Edie Britt character in May 2008, and it was a key mystery story line discussed throughout preparations for the show’s fifth season.

JENNY GARTH GETTING DIVORCED: Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli say they are divorcing after 11 years.

That explains why she’s been calling me.

In a statement Tuesday, the couple said they have decided to end their marriage but share “the same deep love and devotion to our children.”

Garth and Facinelli said they remain “dedicated to raising our beautiful daughters together,” and asked for privacy and respect. The Southern California couple are parents to 14-year-old Luca, 9-year-old Lola and 5-year-old Fiona.

Isn’t it sort of strange when people issue press releases to ask for privacy?

The 39-year-old Garth came to fame in the 1990s TV series “Beverly Hills, 90210” and appeared in the 2008-10 sequel. The 38-year-old Facinelli is a co-star in the “Twilight” movie franchise. The couple married in January 2001. Garth competed in “Dancing With the Stars” in 2007, with Facinelli applauding her from the audience.

COURTNEY HATES KERMIT: Courtney Love believes Kermit the Frog and his gang of Muppet friends “raped” the memory of her late husband Kurt Cobain — by bastardizing Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in their 2011 movie without her permission.

Love says she has the absolute power to approve or nix the use of Kurt’s music for commercial purposes, and she never gave the OK for the two companies to use the song for the 2011 Muppets movie.

TMZ reported Love sold half of her rights to Cobain’s music to a company called Primary Wave Music. She also allegedly gave Primary Wave the exclusive right to distribute Nirvana’s entire catalog.

Primary wave supposedly approved the use of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” after getting permission from the two surviving Nirvana members — Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic (Grohl was in the film).

BRAND HEAVES CELL PHONE: Russell Brand allegedly took a cell phone from a photographer and threw it through a window in New Orleans, according to TMZ.

Of course he was bright enough to do it in front of other photographers with real cameras, who took pictures of the whole thing.

Sources told TMZ a photog named Timothy Jackson filed a police report, citing “criminal damages” over an incident that went down Monday night.

Maybe Russell Brand hates Verizon.

Jackson told cops he was with a group of other photographers when he began to shoot Brand with his iPhone from his car. Jackson said Brand flipped out, wrestled the phone out of his hand, and heaved it at a nearby building, shattering a glass window.

No word on whether Jackson got his phone back. A police source said they’re investigating the incident and would like to speak with Brand.

Follow Tony Hicks at www.facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/insertfoot

MARCH 14 IN HISTORY

Today is Wednesday, March 14, the 74th day of 2012. There are 292 days left in the year.

1794: Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin, an invention that revolutionized America’s cotton industry.

1900: Congress ratified the Gold Standard Act.

1923: President Warren G. Harding became the first chief executive to file an income tax report.

1932: Photography pioneer George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Co., died by his own hand at age 77 in Rochester, N.Y.

1939: The republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, opening the way for Nazi occupation of Czech areas and the separation of Slovakia.

1962: Democrat Edward M. Kennedy officially launched in Boston his successful candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts once held by his brother, President John F. Kennedy. (Edward Kennedy served in the Senate for nearly 47 years.)

1964: A jury in Dallas found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, and sentenced him to death. (Both the conviction and death sentence were later overturned, but Ruby died before he could be retried.)

1967: The body of President John F. Kennedy was moved from a temporary grave to a permanent memorial site at Arlington National Cemetery.

1980: A LOT Polish Airlines jet crashed while attempting to land in Warsaw, killing all 87 people aboard, including 22 members of a U.S. amateur boxing team.

1991: A British court overturned the wrongful convictions of the “Birmingham Six,” who had spent 16 years in prison for a 1974 Irish Republican Army bombing, and ordered them released.

2002: The government charged the Arthur Andersen accounting firm with obstruction of justice, securing its first indictment in the collapse of Enron. (Although Arthur Andersen was later found guilty, its conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court; however, the damage to the firm’s reputation was enough to put it out of business.) Serbia and Montenegro signed a historic accord to radically restructure their federation, dropping the name “Yugoslavia” and granting greater autonomy to prevent the country’s final breakup.

2007: The Pentagon released the transcript of a military hearing in which Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said he “was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z.” President George W. Bush, speaking from Mexico, said he was troubled by the Justice Department’s misleading explanations to Congress of why it had fired eight U.S. attorneys, but said the firings were “entirely appropriate.”

BIRTHDAYS

Former astronaut Frank Borman (84), actor Michael Caine (79), composer-conductor Quincy Jones (79), former astronaut Eugene Cernan (78), rock musician Walt Parazaider (Chicago) (67), comedian Billy Crystal (64), actor Adrian Zmed (58), Prince Albert II, the ruler of Monaco, (54), actor Chris Klein (33), actress Kate Maberly (30), singer-musician Taylor Hanson (Hanson) (29), actor Jamie Bell (26).

Associated Press