TV Interview!
Interviews with Kendyl Berna, Paul de Gelder and Kinga Philips of “Shark Week” on Discovery by Suzanne 7/16/25
I don’t watch too many non-fiction shows, but I enjoy “Shark Week” every year. They do a good job of keeping a balance between entertainment and education. The programs this year are really fun. I interviewed some of the “Shark Week” stars about their programs. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Don’t miss “Shark Week” starting Sunday, 7/20/25.
Paul de Gelder
Kendyl Berna
Kinga Philips
MORE INFO: Official Site Trailer
DISCOVERY’S ANNUALÂ SHARKÂ WEEK KICKS OFFÂ
JULY 20, 2025 AT 8PM ET/PT
About Shark Week 2025:
Summer’s most-anticipated television programming event, Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” returns for its historic 37th year on Sunday, July 20 at 8PM ET/PT. The network previously announced the upcoming Shark Week special Dancing with Sharks and today released the first official promo clip for the 2025 celebration.
Promo Clip 1Â HEREÂ Promo Clip 2 HERE
BIOS
Kendyl Berna studied Environmental Science with an emphasis in Ecology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. While in college, she took a semester off to work at Discovery Channel and realized that she loved the media side of environmental science and the outreach that it could have. From here, she began her career in documentary filmmaking, particularly specializing in nature, marine, adventure and wildlife and producing shows for networks such as Netflix, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, A&E and others.
While producing a marine-based show for Travel Channel in the British Virgin Islands she met Chris Juredin and his team at Commercial Dive Services. Two years and two Category-5 hurricanes later, they teamed up to create Beyond The Reef. Kendyl handles the creative side while Chris handles the logistics and engineering of actually building and sinking a ship.
Kendyl’s Shark Week 2025 Show: “Black Mako of the Abyss” premieres Tuesday, July 22nd at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery When Shark Tagger Keith Poe saw the shark for the first time, he knew it was different. It was aggressive, 13-feet long and had very dark skin. Now, a group of experts lure the beast up from the abyss to determine if the creature is a mako, or mutant, or possibly, a mako and great white hybrid.
More about Kendyl Founder of Beyond The Reef
Paul de Gelder, a former Australian Navy diver, is a shark conservation advocate and motivational speaker recognized for surviving a 2009 bull shark attack in Sydney Harbour, which led to the amputation of his right leg and part of his right arm. He educates the public about sharks and advocates for their conservation, primarily regarding overfishing and shark finning. Since 2013, de Gelder has frequently appeared in Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” specials , engages in motivational speaking, and authored the book “Shark: Why We Need to Save the World’s Most Misunderstood Predator”. More at https://www.pauldegelder.com
Kinga Philips In 2021 Kinga became the first female host in 33 years of her own show on Discovery’s SHARK WEEK 
with Tiger Queen. Filmed in Turks and Caicos Kinga investigated a mysterious population of never before studied tiger sharks coming face to face with these magnificent apex predators. In 2022 Kinga created, hosted and executive produced Sharks in Paradise, one of Shark Week’s first shows to ever be filmed in Tahiti. Both shows rated among Shark Weeks top shows. Kinga is currently in production on three upcoming 2025 Shark Week shows.
In her free time, Kinga explores a singular fascination with the ocean, free diving (see below), scuba diving (she is advanced open water, nitrox and dry suit certified), surfing, spearfishing to harvest her own food, exotic travel and sharks (those are her two friends from Guadalupe Island, MX swimming up top)… followed just slightly by a love of solo adventure travel, charity work, exotic foods and action sports.
Kinga is a board member of the nonprofit environmental group, Shark Allies, dedicated to changing the image of sharks and conserving our oceans. Kinga is a regular advocate for sharks on platforms like NOW THIS, Forbes, BEOND TV, The Artie Lange Show, Inside Hook and more. She is also an ambassador for Waves for Water, an org committed to providing clean water to those in need. More at https://www.kingaphilipps.com
Shark Week 2025 Full Slate:
Sunday, July 20
“Dancing with Sharks” premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery
Hosted by Emmy® Award-winning television personality Tom Bergeron, Dancing with Sharks is a competition show unlike any other. For the first time ever, five divers compete to put together an amazing underwater routine with their toothy partners. From hammerheads to tigers and nurse sharks, each shark has its own signature dance moves. At the end of the show, a winner is crowned – if all the competitors make it that far.
“Air Jaws: The Hunt for Colossus” premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery
A 20-foot great white breaches in New Zealand, sparking a hunt for Colossus – the legendary flying shark who went missing 10 years ago from South Africa’s waters. Could he still be alive and lead researchers to a secret colony of lost great whites?
“Great White Assassins” premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery
Shark expert Alison Towner teams up with Shark Week legend Dickie Chivell to decode how killer whales take down great whites with ease. To get answers, the team travels to New Zealand and goes to the extreme, sending Dickie underwater posed as an orca to see how the great whites react.
Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery.
Monday, July 21
“Great White Sex Battle” premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery
In a Shark Week first, male and female great white sharks compete in a series of challenges to determine which sex is the superior predator in the waters off the coast of New Zealand.
“Jaws vs Mega Croc” premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery
Using data gathered in new experiments, Tristan Guttridge, Rosie Moore and Dr. Sora Kim construct a CGI fight to the death between two of the biggest and baddest apex predators in the water – the Great White Shark and Nile Crocodile.
“In the Eye of the Storm: Shark Storm” premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery
In the summer of 2024, dozens of cameras capture a rare outbreak of shark attacks along America’s gulf coast. Told exclusively through first-hand accounts of victims and eyewitnesses, nobody has seen all these perspectives unfold in real time until now.
Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery.
Tuesday, July 22
“Great White Northern Invasion” premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery
Great white sharks have found a new home off the shores of Nova Scotia, Canada. With the waters now frothing with great whites, interactions with humans are on the rise. A team of scientists tracks down and tags the biggest sharks to uncover the sharkiest locations before there’s a fatal attack.
“How to Survive a Shark Attack” premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery
Shark attack survivor Paul de Gelder attempts the unthinkable – getting attacked by a shark, again. Under the supervision of experts, Paul provokes sharks to attack him in multiple scenarios, where they bite and tear off prosthetic limbs to teach life-saving tactics for surviving an encounter with nature’s deadliest predators.
“Black Mako of the Abyss” premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery
When Shark Tagger Keith Poe saw the shark for the first time, he knew it was different. It was aggressive, 13-feet long and had very dark skin. Now, a group of experts lure the beast up from the abyss to determine if the creature is a mako, or mutant, or possibly, a mako and great white hybrid.
Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery.
Wednesday, July 23
“Expedition Unknown: Shark Files” premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery
Global adventurer Josh Gates solves some of the strangest and most disturbing shark mysteries of all-time, including the real-life bloody inspiration for the movie Jaws and the gruesome case of the Tiger Shark who vomited an arm while living in captivity and ultimately helped police solve a murder mystery.
“Expedition X: Malpelo Monster Shark” premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery
Josh Gates sends Phil Torres and Heather Amaro on their most perilous mission yet – tracking a legendary monster shark that lurks in the eerie waters of Malpelo Island, 300 miles off Colombia’s coast. After terrifying footage of this monster is brought to Josh, he sends his fearless team deep into the ocean to unmask the true identity of this 20-foot-long predator.
“Alien Sharks: Death Down Under” premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery
Wildlife biologist Forrest Galante injects himself with shark venom after diving down under into Australia’s dangerous waters, home to some of the weirdest, alien-like and deadly sharks. He hopes this risky and potentially lethal experiment will bypass years of red tape to finally discover the potency of the venomous Port Jackson Shark and Ghost Shark.
Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery.
Thursday, July 24
“Surviving Jaws” premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery
Fifty years ago, Jaws changed the beachgoing experience forever – striking fear into millions of Americans who vowed to never go in the water again. Now, marine biologist Tom “Blowfish” Hird and predator ecologist Michelle Jewell re-examine the movie and dive with Great Whites to separate fact from fiction, answering questions like: does skinny dipping really attract great white sharks? Could a monster shark chew through a boat’s hull?
“Caught! Sharks Strike Back” premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery
This year has set a record for shark encounters captured on camera, from a hilarious moment when a shark slaps a fisherman in the face to the intense 10-minutes a great white stalked a kayaker… these are craziest moments of when sharks strike back.
“Frankenshark” premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery
Shark expert Tristan Guttridge and his team use CGI to create the ultimate apex predator. Pulling from a variety of shark species, they build the deadliest, weirdest shark on the planet and put it to the test in a high-stakes showdown against a killer orca.
Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery.
Friday, July 25
“Great White Reign of Terror” premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery
In South Africa, two people are killed by great whites near the eastern cape, an area that hasn’t seen an attack in decades. Scientists worry it could be the start of a series of attacks eerily similar to Black December in 1957, when six people lost their lives. Ryan Johnson, Gibbs Kuguru and Andy Casagrande head out to investigate the cause behind the spike in attacks before there’s another fatality.
“Florida’s Death Beach” premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery
The numbers are in, and once again, Florida – specifically New Smyrna Beach – has earned the title of “The Shark Attack Capital of the World,” accounting for 30% of global shark attacks. But why has the popular spring break, party beach become so deadly? Forrest Galante and his team investigate before even more blood ends up in the water.
“Bull Shark Showdown” premieres at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery
The most vicious and insane populations of bull sharks from Australia and America faceoff in a no-holds-barred showdown beneath the water. Bull Shark-attack survivor Paul de Gelder contends that his Aussie sharks are the toughest, while American shark biologist Dr. Craig O’Connell attempts to find the meanest sharks Florida has to offer to take the crown.
Encores run at 11PM ET/PT on Discovery.
Saturday, July 26
“Attack of the Devil Shark” premieres at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery
A rogue Tiger Shark attacks and kills a person in St. Martin. Weeks later, it strikes again. Locals fear it could be the work of the legendary Devil Shark – a massive and ruthless tiger shark who’s haunted their shores for decades. When a team sets out to track down the shark responsible for the attacks, they uncover a seismic force that may be triggering aggression in sharks.
“Battle for Shark Mountain” premieres at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery
Off Mozambique’s coast, sharks swarm a hidden peak, hunting Giant Trevally in a once-a-year feeding frenzy. But when 5,000 Trevally fight back, the hunters become the hunted in one of the ocean’s wildest showdowns.
Encores run at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery.
Dive into Shark Week across Social:
Follow @sharkweek on Facebook, X, Instagram, and Threads and follow @Discovery on TikTok and YouTube to keep up with the latest. Be sure to use the hashtag #sharkweek to join the conversation. To learn more, please visit www.sharkweek.com.
**Shark Week 2025 starts Sunday July 20th on Discovery**
Proofread and Edited by Brenda