Celebrities in new series Shark! taught by diving instructor with missing limbs
The celebrities were said to be taking a big risk as they swam with ever-increasing sized sharks in the Bahamas in a new ITV series to mark the 50th anniversary of Jaws
The seven celebrities who agreed to swim with sharks in an ITV series which marks the 50th anniversary of Jaws, were taught to dive by an instructor with missing limbs.
The seven stars - who all admit to being scared of the sea - were Call the Midwife's Helen George, comedians Sir Lenny Henry and Ross Noble, Countdown's Rachel Riley, McFly's Dougie Poynter, Amandaland's Lucy Punch and TV presenter Ade Adepitan.
All have now returned from filming Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters with their lives intact, but were constantly reminded of the dangers involved by their Australian instructor - who was missing an arm and a leg, courtesy of a tiger shark.
For the five-part series, due to start next month, the celebs were challenged to confront their greatest fear and flown to the island on Bimini in the Bahamas, home to around 10 different species of shark. Once there, they took the plunge together alongside hammerhead, bull and tiger sharks.
While there is no voting or elimination process in the show, the dives got progressively harder, with each involving a bigger and tougher breed of shark, and the celebrities were allowed to sit out if they felt overwhelmed.
One insider said: 'The sharks they were free diving with were definitely dangerous and they were shocked when they realised what had happened to the expert, who'd had an arm and a leg bitten off.'
Despite the series being shown as tribute to half a century since the Oscar-winning Jaws was released in 1975, the 'ocean-phobic' stars did not attempt to recreate the movie scenes. 'There were no Great Whites involved in the making of this show,' the source said. 'But it was not for the faint-hearted, that's for sure. Some were more scared than others.'
Viewers will have to wait to see if any of the stars sustained injuries during the making of the programme, which was filmed last year.
Yesterday presenter Rachel said that taking part was a 'dream come true' adding: 'It was the best trip, the best experience, the best everything, of my life.' Describing it as 'wet and wild' she added: 'Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters is a totally new type of entertainment show, with so much integrity and a love of sharks and conservation at its heart. And with the best bunch of people you could hope to work with.'
The mum-of-two said she'd first been asked to take part a year ago. 'They said we're thinking of sending some celebrities out to the Bahamas for a few weeks to swim with some of the biggest, scariest wild sharks in the world.'
Helen agreed that it had been brilliant, saying: 'One of the most insane experiences of my life, learning about this incredible creatures, with equally incredible humans.'
Ross described it as a 'great adventure' and quipped: 'No, it's not a wind up, it's a real thing.' And pop star Dougie marvelled that it was the closest he'd ever get to a 'real Jurassic Park experience'.
ITV entertainment boss Katie Rawcliffe said audiences should enjoy the combination of blue chip natural history programming with ITV's skill at entertainment, and called the famous faces taking part 'some of the bravest celebrities out there'.
Karen Plumb, of Plimsoll Productions, said the aim was to give viewers a new perspective on sharks. 'We're constantly looking for innovative approaches to wildlife storytelling and are certain that our fish-out-of-water spin – delivering 50 years after Jaws – will transform the world's perception of these critical predators before it's too late.'
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