Neighbours star Alan Fletcher has recalled almost dying while filming a water scene on the long-running Aussie soap many years ago.
The 66-year-old is set to revisit the terrifying incident in an upcoming episode of Saturday Night With Hayley Palmer, in which he recounts a cruise-ship scene he filmed with co-star Natalie Bassingthwaighte that almost went awry.
Speaking to presenter Hayley Palmer, Fletcher explained his character, Dr Karl Kennedy, was attempting to rescue Izzy Hoyland (played by Bassingthwaighte) after proposing to her when he had to be rescued by a speedboat in real life.
“This was a terrifying incident, Karl proposed to Izzy … she got so excited she pitched into the water,” he said in a teaser clip of the episode, as obtained by the Daily Mail.
“After they fished her out, I had to dive in to try and rescue her, obviously in a fictional way, but I forgot to take my shoes off so they filled up with water and every time I went down I thought, ‘Gee, am I gonna come up again?’”
On his third diving attempt, Fletcher – who played Dr Kennedy since 1994 – said he was unsure he would resurface and started flailing his arms around.
“I got a bit flustered … and the speedboat had to rush out and rescue me,” he said.
As they say, the show must go on – and the cast and crew resumed filming. So it wasn’t until one week later that the actor was able to process the ordeal.
“A week later, I actually collapsed from a delayed shock to the body, it was very weird,” he shared.
Fletcher’s appareance on Saturday Night With Hayley Palmer comes weeks before the iconic program resumes filming next month.
Fans almost farewelled the show last July when UK broadcaster Channel 5 did not renew its contract. But three months after the tear-jerking finale aired here and in the UK, the soap was thrown a lifeline when Fremantle signed a deal with streaming giant Amazon Freevee to revive the beloved soap.