Gino D'Acampo nearly died in a high-speed desert buggy crash.

Gino D'Acampo

Gino D'Acampo

The 43-year-old TV chef was filming alongside top cook Gordan Ramsay and maître d' Fred Sirieix for 'Gordon, Gino & Fred American Road Trip' when he smashed the vehicle into their camper van, and began fearing for his life as he was covered in petrol.

He said: "I saw the RV coming very close, and I thought, 'OK, that's it.' I was going 70 or 80 miles an hour, and when I hit it I thought, 'This is over now. I'm going to die.'

"The thing that scared me the most is that my fuel-tank burst and I had petrol all over me."

Gordan, who had whiplash following the incident, admitted it was fortunate Gino hit the RV side on.

While Gino didn't have any serious injuries, he couldn't continue filming until 24 hours later.

The trio were riding the buggies around a race track in Mexico at the time, and Gordon admitted they had been warned to curb their need for speed.

He added to Radio Times magazine: "They warned us, 'One more incident and we'd be banned from the track.

"We hit the first corner, and we got told to moderate our speed.

"I backed off and all of a sudden, Gino's car shot past me. He lost control, hit the RV and there's paramedics, gas everywhere, a tyre burst."

As well as near-death experiences, the trio also had some naked experiences, with Gordon revealing Gino and Fred stripped off and jumped in his pool at this Los Angeles home, and the nude 'First Dates' star then jumped on the chef's 73-year-old mum.