Obama takes a turn at reality TV in Alaska

This July 30, 2014, photo shows Margerie Glacier, one of many glaciers that make up Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park. With melting glaciers and rising seas as his backdrop, President Barack Obama will visit Alaska next week to press for urgent global action to combat climate change. (Kathy Matheson/AP)

He's rappelled shirtless with heartthrob Zac Efron and had a heart-to-heart in the wilderness with a choked up Deion Sanders.

The next step: Bear Grylls landed President Obama on his reality show, where they'll talk global warming in Alaska.

An NBC news release said the president, fresh off a weekend trip to the golf course, will "receive a crash course in survival techniques" from Grylls, presumably under the protective eye of the Secret Service.

The president's turn as reality TV star is one piece of a three-day trip to Alaska designed to raise awareness about the dangers of climate change. “Alaskans are already living with its effects,” Obama said in his radio address Saturday. On Monday he'll address a conference of Arctic nations dealing with the problem.

[Obama using Alaska to add urgency to his climate change warnings]

The president's appearance with Grylls, a former British soldier and survivalist,  has drawn a negative response from at least one group. PETA, the animal rights group, condemned the president's support for a show that it described in a statement as "the bottom of the barrel," "demeaning" and "sexist."  "There are far better ways to get the message about global climate change out than by appearing on this disgusting show," the statement said.

No response yet from that other former NBC reality TV star: Donald Trump.