Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's wife breaks silence on his Celebrity Bear Hunt near-death incident
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen came close to death when he filmed Celebrity Bear Hunt in 2024, and now his wife Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen has shared how she reacted when Laurence told her about it.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's wife criticised him for "showing off" and "taking [things] too far" after he told her about coming close to death doing Celebrity Bear Hunt.
The 60-year-old interior designer "couldn't breathe and started passing out" when he was trapped underwater for several minutes after he got entangled in a bungee rope before Bear Grylls - who hosted the now-shelved Netflix Costa Rica-based survival show with Holly Willoughby, 44 - resuscitated him on the shore in 2024.
He video called his spouse, Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen, and initially played down how serious the incident was before the pair shed tears after realising how close to death Laurence came.
Jackie told the new issue of Britain's HELLO! magazine: "He was on video phone, and he was making quite light of it to begin with; then he was in tears.
"I was telling him off, saying, 'This is typical you, showing off, taking it too far.' I may have shed a few tears.
"When you go through something like that, it's almost like PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], and the thinking back is probably more upsetting than going through it in the first place.
"Laurence has done an awful lot of incredibly brave things in his life, and very few things ever faze him.
"He was filming in a hot-air balloon in Spain when it crashed into a pine forest.
"Then he was in a microlight in Northern Ireland that I refused to go in, where the engine kept cutting out, and he's been on those awful rides in Las Vegas that throw you out on top of a high-rise building. He's fearless.
"But of all the elements that Laurence really has never liked, water would be the one.
"He doesn't like being in the sea; he doesn't like being out of his depth."
Jackie - who got married to the Changing Rooms star in 1989 - initially did not want to watch the episode of Celebrity Bear Hunt that featured Laurence's near-death experience, but she ended up seeing it.
She explained: "I really didn't think I wanted to watch the episode when it was on, because you think you might be haunted by that image.
"But I did watch it, and I thought, 'Phew, that was lucky - that was one of his nine lives.'"
And Jackie is adamant that Laurence will not take part in any more reality TV shows, similar to Celebrity Bear Hunt.
She said: "I don't want him doing anything like that again.
"And you know, you really don't need to, because you're Grandpa Pig these days."
Recalling being trapped under the water and telling Jackie about the ordeal, Laurence - who has daughters Cecile and Hermione, and four grandchildren, Albion, Demelza, Romily and Eleanora - said: "It was a close shave, and I had a big reaction to the adrenaline afterwards.
"It was a very frightening situation - I couldn't breathe and started passing out - and in many ways, it was more frightening in hindsight.
"I was very emotional telling Jackie what had happened.
"In my head I was James Bond, but the sad fact is that I'm actually more like Grandpa Pig."
