Joey Essex thought he was going to die in Brazil.
The ‘Educating Joey Essex: Football Fever’ star was terrified when he was left walking the streets of a favela in just a pair of tiny shorts and was convinced he would be singled out because of his attire.
He said: "I didn’t have my hairdryer with me. I didn’t have no clothes, nothing.
"They took me to the beach before they took me to the favela so I was in a tiny pair of shorts and I was like ‘Thanks, cheers for telling me to pack my overnight bag’, and they thought it was funny.
"Everyone in the favela wears trousers. You can see why I was scared.
"It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be — at some points, I thought I was going to die."
Joey, 23, was so afraid of the notorious Rocinha favela, he refused to stay overnight as planned.
He said: "I didn’t stay in the favela, I got scared. I don’t know if it’s in the show but I ran out of the home in the favela."
The former ‘Only Way Is Essex’ star was particularly horrified after he discovered his Rio security team wouldn’t accompany him into the slums as they thought it too dangerous.
He told The Sun newspaper: "When we went to the favela, no police or security are allowed near because if they go in the people round there pull out guns and shoot them straight away. But I wasn’t going to back out.
"The man I was with said ‘The people who have got guns have got really moody faces. He said ‘Just don’t look at them’."
Joey Essex feared for his life
