Gethin Jones admits 'I nearly died' after 'getting into difficulties' during filming for BBC show
Former Blue Peter star Gethin Jones has revealed that he 'nearly died' while shooting a heart-stopping scene for the popular BBC show he used to present.
Reminiscing on his younger years when he was first embarking on his career in broadcasting, Cardiff-born Gethin looked back on a trip to Namibia in Africa, when he nearly lost his life while filming for Blue Peter.
The 46-year-old told The Times: "Some of the most memorable trips during my time on the show were when I got to ride bareback with cowboys in El Paso, Texas, and when I nearly died while scaling the Spitzkoppe peaks in Namibia."
READ MORE: Norovirus surge warning from NHS as Welsh patients given new vaccine in trial
READ MORE: Wynne Evans tells Joanna Page 'can you just stop talking' as he discusses career
After a successful first attempt, the broadcaster soon ran into trouble as he tried to make his way down the treacherous terrain of the Spitzkoppe peaks for a second time: "The first attempt went fine, but the producer asked me to do it again so they could film a wide shot and I lost my bearings and got into difficulties because of how windy it was."
Gethin became a household name presenting iconic BBC show Blue Peter. An action packed three years on the show saw him travel all over the globe, seeing him survive the Bolivian jungle on his own and even navigating a near miss with an alligator in Louisiana.
He reflected on the worrying moments during his chat with the Times, as he said: "I also have a scar on my ankle from when an alligator attacked me in a Louisiana swamp.
"Apparently, the alligator wasn’t hungry, otherwise I wouldn’t have survived. I also built a shelter on my own in the Bolivian jungle because the two people I was with weren’t that interested in helping."
Since his time presenting Blue Peter, Gethin has presented BBC One's Morning Live after first landing the role back in 2020. He is joined by Michelle Ackerley on presenting duties.
Gethin will join fellow celebrities Tiff Stevenson, Kate Thornton and Gary Wilmot on this evening's (Monday, February 10) episode of Richard Osman's House of Games on BBC Two at 6pm.
