Nick Knowles was left "terrified" when he got stuck in the Grand Canyon after putting on weight over lockdown.
Nick Knowles felt 'seriously terrified' when he got stuck in the Grand Canyon
The 60-year-old TV presenter ballooned to 18 stone at one point during the coronavirus pandemic after putting on nearly four stone, and he ended up getting "wedged" in the Arizona rock formation while filming for Channel 5 show 'The Grand Canyon'.
Speaking on Radio X, he said: "You have to go through 'horizontal chimneys' which are for real cavers, who are like whippets - they're tiny, skinny people.
"But my director was like, 'Go through here, and there's a cave on the other side which we can talk in.'
"But halfway along, I was like, 'I can't do this, this is just too much.' I had palpitations, it was seriously terrifying.
"There was a point where I was wedged, I couldn't get my shoulders through and I was wedged."
The 'DIY SOS' presenter almost needed an SOS of his own, but he managed to calm himself down.
He added: "My heart started to go and I was, 'Breath, breath, breath.'
"The caver said to me, 'So how are you feeling about your life choices?' "
In November 2021, Nick told how he was going on a diet because he felt "massive".
The presenter - who starred on 'I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!' in 2018 - said at the time: "I’ve made a living by looking like a bag of spanners on TV. I’m 18 stone, I’m massive.
"I’m always on building sites. During lockdown I put on almost four stone. I’ve taken two stone off now and I’m getting fit again."
Nick previously confessed that he started gaining weight amid lockdown, as he stopped working out and was instead baking and eating "all the pies".
Asked whether he's vain, he said: "I am a TV presenter. I put myself in front of millions of people, so you have to have a certain amount of vanity. Previous girlfriends would say I am.
"I like to dress up, but equally I don’t care if I look like a bag of spanners. I’ve made a career out of looking rough."
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