EXCLUSIVELaurence Llewelyn-Bowen reveals how Bear Grylls saved him from drowning on Celebrity Bear Hunt

LEOMIE ANDERSON

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen had plenty to celebrate at Tuesday’s Celebrity Bear Hunt launch – top of the list was simply surviving the Netflix show.

The TV star, 59, joins a bunch of unlikely celebs who are dropped into the Costa Rica jungle as prey for one of the world’s most fearsome predators – Bear Grylls.

As Bear puts them through their paces, those who fail to impress will face the dreaded ‘Bear Hunt’ – a brutal game of cat and mouse where they’ll be hunted down by Bear himself and, if captured, face elimination from the show.

The cast joined Bear and the show’s presenter Holly Willoughby for a glitzy launch in London’s Leicester Square on Tuesday before the party headed to Kettners, where a dapper Laurence looked a tad worse for wear.

MailOnline has revealed how Laurence nearly died during a freak raft accident during filming for the show last Spring.

He was dragged underwater for several heart-stopping minutes after getting entangled in a bungee rope before being pulled to safety.

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen had plenty to celebrate at Tuesday’s Celebrity Bear Hunt launch – top of the list was surviving the Netflix show

MailOnline revealed last week how Laurence nearly died during a freak raft accident during filming for the show last Spring

Speaking to MailOnline about the terrifying incident, Laurence revealed it was Bear himself who came to his rescue.

‘It turns out, I’m actually not built to be an Avenger,’ he quipped. ‘I really thought I could take this on. I was full of adrenaline and I was full of my own abilities which were actually sadly not quite up there.’

‘I got stuck underneath the raft. But I was really stupid. I didn’t stop at that point. I then kept carrying on and then I started blacking out and I started getting these chest pains.’

‘And the next thing I know I get Bear on top of me – which I know millions of people would give their arm for – but he felt like a damp bag of spanners!’

Bear may have saved his life, but that didn’t alter the compeтιтive spirit of the game, with Laurence admitting that later in the series he was fuming with the survival expert for capturing him whilst he was going to the toilet.

‘I was so cross about this because actually I’ve got an iron bladder normally!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’m the camel of the family.’

‘Things were taking a bit longer and we were waiting to get into the Bear Pit and they kept giving us Gatorade which is just toxic. It was me, Steph [McGovern] and Mel B and the girls went to the loo a few times beforehand, I didn’t.’

The cast joined Bear and the show’s presenter Holly Willoughby for a glitzy launch in London’s Leicester Square on Tuesday before the party headed to Kettners

Adapper Laurence looked a little worse for wear as he stepped out of his car at Kettners

The TV star, 59, joins a bunch of unlikely celebs who are dropped into the Costa Rica jungle as prey for one of the world’s most fearsome predators – Bear Grylls

‘The minute the starting gun goes off you become a completely different person. You become an animal. It’s all about surviving and we had all these strategies.’

‘I was only aware of what I was doing [having a pee] when I could hear the camera crew laughing. And I thought I can’t really stop this midstream and then Bear punched.’

‘I think that’s not right to stand behind a bush. While a gentleman is urinating and then jump on him. I suppose a tiger would do that, wouldn’t they?’

The second eldest of the 12 celeb compeтιтors, (Strictly judge Shirley Ballas is the oldest at 64) Laurence has admitted his advancing milestone birthday gave him the push to sign up.

‘I’ve got a long list of ladies in my life saying “well told you, you shouldn’t have done that then shouldn’t you?” But I mean there was something in me that just went “Okay look I’m 60. I’m never going to do this under my own steam. I really like the idea of seeing how it’s gonna go.”’

Speaking to MailOnline about the terrifying incident, Laurence revealed it was Bear himself who came to his rescue

Bear may have saved his life, but that didn’t alter the compeтιтive spirit of the game, with Laurence admitting he was fuming with the survival expert for capturing him whilst he was going to the toilet

He quickly became known as the uncle of the camp, cajoling the younger members of the cast like Lottie Moss and Danny Ciprani to cultivate a happy family atmosphere – a role he is used to at home.

‘I think the thing is I live with my daughters, I live with their husbands, I live with my grandchildren,’ he explained to MailOnline.

‘I do know that there are moments where you do actually step in and say, “ah, come on everybody. Let’s sort of get on with stuff”.

‘I’m sure it was incredibly irritating for everybody for me to be that bloke that did want everyone to get on.’

Celebrity Bear Hunt is available to stream on Netflix

Celebrity Bear Hunt: Meet The Cast!