Ross Kemp was set to join the Oceangate submersible expedition to film a documentary series - but pulled out over safety fears.
The former EastEnders star cancelled his trip after the expert production company he was working with said it was "not considered safe". It comes after US Coastguard confirmed yesterday that all five people onboard the missing Titan submersible had sadly died.
The vessel, which was travelling to the site of the Titanic wreckage, lost contact with its mothership shortly after launching on Sunday. A huge search effort was mobilised, with rescue crews hoping that the sub was simply stuck, the Mirror reports.
However, it is now believed that a "catastrophic explosion" occurred, claiming the lives of all five passengers. Kemp, who is well-known for travelling to some of the world's most dangerous places, was chosen to front documentary that would require him to dive down in the submersible.
However, after the production team examined the vessel, the programme was scrapped over safety concerns. His agent, InterTalent boss Professor Jonathan Shalit, said: “Their team checked out this OceanGate submersible and pulled out of using it, as it was simply not considered safe or fit for purpose.
“They found other sub dives which have been safe and successful, but by that point Ross was so busy with all his TV shows that he was unable to commit the time."
He added to The Sun that he was 'relieved' that he wasn't known as the "agent who killed Ross Kemp".
Three British citizens, including billionaire Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood died onboard the doomed sub. French national and renowned diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet was also killed. Confirmation of their deaths came after a debris field was found by the US Coastguard during their search for the missing vessel.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, First Coast Guard District commander, said they had found debris linked to the Titan.
"The debris is consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber," he said in a press conference.
A former Navy doctor has explained what would have happened to the five victims before they died. Dr Dale Molé said: "It would have been so sudden, that they wouldn't even have known that there was a problem, or what happened to them."
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