SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – DECEMBER 06: Actor Terry Crews attends Comic Con Experience 2015 at Sao Paulo Expo on December 06, 2015 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Vanessa Carvalho/LatinContent/Getty Images)

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Terry Crews started working out at 5 so he could Beat up his father

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Updated on July 18, 2023

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Terry Crews has spoken about his brutal childhood and his desire to punish his violent father.

On Monday’s edition of “Running Wild with Bear Grylls,” the 52-year-old “America’s Got Talent” host said that he worked on growing his strength in order to defend himself from his “abusive” and “alcoholic” father.

“Growing up was not a good experience,” he told Bear Grylls, 52, in an interview.

“My father was very abusive, you know, he used to beat my mother. And so, it was one of those things where I knew I would have to get stronger because one day I thought I’d have to fight him. That’s how it started out.”

Crews claims that he has been thinking this way since he was five years old. “I always, always had been like, ‘Be fit, be ready, be prepared, be there,'” he says. “But even then it’s hard, because certain things did trip me up that I had to get over.”

The actor stated, “I beat this man. I remember he was begging, begging, and all I could think of was, this is how my mother felt. How do you like it? And this is the thing, Bear. I thought it would feel good. And he’s on the ground, bleeding, crying, and I didn’t feel one bit better. It left me with nothing.”

Crews claimed he went to counseling and learned to forgive his father years after he hit him.

“That was the best thing I could ever think of to tell him,” Crews remarked, visibly emotional.

“We hugged, he cried. Man, all I wanted was for us to be a family and for him to love my mother as much as we loved her. And then at that moment, I knew we had transcended.”

Terry Crews Sr. and his son always had a tumultuous relationship, which Crews has previously discussed. In 2014, the film Everybody Hates Chris alum penned an article in HuffPost about how he learnt to forgive his father.

“I started giving Big Terry credit for what he did do. He was a good earner. He was a good provider,” he wrote. “I never excused what had been wrong, but also being able to see the positive finally changed my perspective. It changed my view of our story. Finally, it all became clear to me, and I called my father.”