James May nearly died filming ‘The Grand Tour’.
The 53-year-old TV presenter came close to death in Venice, Italy, when he almost drowned, and admitted the star feared he was about to meet his maker because he had "run out of strength" to swim to safety.
He said: "I thought I would drown. I couldn’t get out of the slippery thing.
"I had completely run out of strength."
James’ co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper as saying: "Everyone managed to get into their cars but somehow James slipped."
The star didn’t have the best of luck during filming as while he managed to escape the dangerous waters, he was also left "genuinely scared" shooting scenes in the Namibian desert because of the hot conditions.
Despite managing to survive, James’ arm wasn’t so lucky during one stage of filming when he broke it falling out of a pub.
Producer Andy Wilman recently explained: "James fell over the night before filming, coming out of a pub.
"He rang me up and said, ‘I’ve broken my arm.’ His car was automatic so we stuck him on Eurostar, pumped him full of drugs and left him to it.
"[James] did more damage to it because he had to keep on going but he’s falling to bits anyway. We are not in Usain Bolt territory with that body."
Jeremy, James, fellow presenting partner Richard Hammond and the production team have been filming the show on location across the globe, with parts of ‘The Grand Tour’ shot in front of an audience inside a giant travelling tent.
The programme will launch on Amazon Prime Video on November 18 and new episodes will be released every Friday.
The trio previously presented motoring show ‘Top Gear’ but Jeremy was axed following a fracas with a producer, and James and Richard subsequently quit.
James May nearly died filming The Grand Tour
