Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen suffered a “near-death” hot air balloon incident while filming for a travel programme, which he says was likely caused by his TV rival Kelly Hoppen.
The pair have hilariously feuded throughout the years as they have worked on rival interior programmes, however, Laurence took it up a notch when he jokingly accused Kelly of “popping” the balloon during his accident.
The Changing Rooms star spoke exclusively to the Daily Star about the accident and said: “I forget about all the stuff I have done over the years but I was in the hot air balloon at dawn flying over Grenada and it crashed, quite slowly, it wasn’t like we were plummeting to the ground.
(Image: Getty Images)
“We were kind of floating down and I said to the pilot ‘I bet this happens all the time’ and he was like ‘no, first time ever’ and he was like 100 as well.”
Laurence continued: “So, we got snagged on some trees and it would have been a very beautiful place to die but we did make it to landing and I was in there with a cameraman.
“The funny thing was we were both quite calm about it and we weren’t panicking, we were having kind of a gentle conversation about impending death.
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Wyl)
“The only thing I was concerned about was I was wearing a lovely new white shiny suit but it survived totally unscathed.”
Luckily, Laurence and his suit remained unharmed after the incident, but this didn’t stop rumours circulating online that he, in fact, was not.
He added: “I saw on the internet the assumption that yes, I did die and somehow I have been revived by satanic art which explains just about everything I’ve ever done to people’s rooms.”
(Image: Tom Dymond)
After agreeing that the whole world of interiors must be glad he’s still alive and kicking, he joked: “Oh yeah I bet Kelly Hoppen is so relieved, however, I think it was probably Kelly Hoppen who fired the dart that burst the balloon.”
Laurence is also currently working on the Ideal Home Show, having returned for his 10th year.
Talking about the show, he said: “The Ideal Home Show has always been amazing and it gives you ideas of trends and colours and it’s much easier being able to see it in person than looking online.”
The Ideal Home Show, in partnership with NatWest, the world’s longest-running exhibition, is back at Olympia London until Sunday 27th March 2022. A host of experts and celebrities will be hosting Q&As on stage throughout the 17 days at the show. For more information and tickets, please visit idealhomeshow.co.uk
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
