Ross Kemp has told of the terrifying moment he blacked out during an underwater dive.
The former EastEnders actor spoke of his ordeal while filming Ross Kemp: Deep Sea Treasure Hunter”, which starts on Sky History on Easter Monday.
In the new four-part series, Kemp explores the history of Britain by delving into shipwrecks including one of the world’s most famed vessels - Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose.
The star told how he had a momentary blackout after suffering from a “hypocapnia hit”, where you accidentally inhale too much carbon dioxide during a dive.
It came while he was trying to free some piping caught in a wreck in the Plymouth Sound.
“Diving may appear very easy, but it isn’t. It’s extremely technical. If it goes wrong, it can go seriously wrong,” he said.
Asked what the hypocapnia felt like, he says: “It was a little bit of a spark and then I just blacked out. I thought removing the pipes was like trying to rock a tree stump out of my back garden.
"But the amount of C02 which was seeping into my system was basically clouding my judgement, and I forgot completely that I was actually not in my backyard - I was in the middle of Plymouth Sound.
“Literally, the black-out was for half a second. But that was enough for my lungs to feel as if they were on fire. You don’t realise that until you actually get out onto a boat. Then you realise your lungs are like lit up a Christmas tree.”
He said that the scale of what could have happened didn’t hit him until he was back at his hotel.
“I was still a little bit strange when I went back and lay on the bed in the hotel room. I made sure I didn’t fall asleep for five hours. I was just looking at the ceiling of the Novotel thinking, “That was ******* close!”.
Kemp also dives on the SS Thistlegorm, which was sunk by German bomber aircraft in the Red Sea in 1941.
And he said he felt an affinity with his grandfather who transported tanks by sea and drove them in North Africa during the Second World War.
He said: “To dive on the Thistlegorm was incredible. To see the type of vehicle that my grandad would have driven during the desert campaign of the Second World War and to sit in the cockpit was very much like touching history. The moment I sat there, I said, “This is like shaking hands with ghosts.”
Kemp said he hoped the series resonated with viewers.
“I’ll tell you why I like it. It’s family entertainment. It’s history, but it’s not rammed down your throat in a very dry way. In fact, it’s not dry at all – it’s pretty wet,” he laughs.
* Ross Kemp: Deep Sea Treasure Hunter”, which starts on Sky History on Easter Monday at 9pm.
