Ross Kemp – who is on telly today (Thursday, May 30) with Bridge of Lies – once shared details of a terrifying diving accident that left him fearing for his life.
The former EastEnders actor was interviewed by Metro last year ahead of the new series of Sky’s Deep Sea Treasure Hunter. He opened up about a particular incident after which he was “too scared to go to sleep”.
The second series of Sky’s Deep Sea Treasure Hunter aired last year. EastEnders icon Ross Kemp was back at his underwater exploits, which included an exploration of the site of the shipwrecked Mary Rose.
Ross Kemp diving accident
While Ross Kemp recently claimed that returning to acting scared him more than any dive, it seems Ross’s expeditions at sea weren’t all plain-sailing.
In fact, he opened up about one particular incident that left him worried he “might not wake up again”.
The ordeal began while Ross was diving off Plymouth alongside maritime archaeologist Mallory Haas. After stumbling upon the site of a shipwreck, the pair were keen to investigate further.
“We thought it would be like getting a tree stump out of the back garden.” Ross explained. “But of course, we’re not in a back garden. We’re actually 17 to 18 metres down in Plymouth Sounds.”
After spending more time underwater than they should have, their masks filled up with too much carbon dioxide.
“We started breathing it in and you’re just not aware of it. It’s not like you’re breathing in a car exhaust: you can’t see it and you can’t smell it because it’s your own CO2.”
Excess CO2 caused them both to black out. Although help was on hand to get them both to the surface safe and sound, Ross said he was “out of it” for a while afterwards.
Oxygen starvation caused him to feel “like I had a really bad headache, like I’d had too much to drink”.
While there was no permanent damage, Ross confessed he spent a long time afterwards lying in his hotel room, “looking up at the ceiling for five hours, too scared to go to sleep.”
He said: “I told the assistant and camera operator to keep ringing me every hour as I was just worried that I might not wake up again.”
Read More: EastEnders: Is Ross Kemp returning to Walford as Grant Mitchell?
Bridge of Lies airs today (Saturday, June 1) at 6.05pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The first episode of Deep Sea Treasure Hunter will air tonight (April 10) at 10pm on Sky History.
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