Bill Oddie almost killed himself on the set of ‘The Real Hotel of Marigold’.
The 75-year-old comedian feared for his life after he accidentally drank poison in the Indian coastal city of Kochi, where the show is set, after a waiter brought him a glass of turpentine to clean his paint brushes and he mistakenly thought it was drinking water.
He said: "I nearly killed myself after that painting thing. At the beginning of the evening one of the guys knocked on the door and put what I thought was a glass of water by my bed but it was turps and I was drinking it. It could have killed me."
However, the TV bird watcher realised his error before it was too late and, despite feeling unwell, made a recovery in time to shoot the rest of the series, which is loosely based on the hit film ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, much to the producers relief.
A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It was pretty horrifying that he thought the turps was water but thankfully Bill realised in time."
The show will return to screens tomorrow (15.02.17) as a new celebrity cast – Amanda Barrie, former snooker player Dennis Taylor and Paul Nicholas – head to Kerala.
And one person who Bill – who lives in north London with his wife of 34 years Lauren – developed a strong friendship with while working on the show in India was Dr Miriam Stoppard, 79, because they bonded over their lack of confidence.
Miriam said: "We became immediate friends. Bill and I were the two sceptics in the group so they’d be talking about refreshing the soul and all that kind of thing and our eyes would roll a bit because we come more of a scientific background."
Bill Oddie almost killed himself shooting The Real Hotel of Marigold
