RICHARD Hammond swerved what he believed was near-certain death after he was rescued from a shark “the size of a school bus.”
The Grand Tour presenter was shooting scenes for new Amazon Prime spin-off show, The Great Escapists, when his home made raft encountered “some issues” getting away from the island – and through the crocodile infested waters.
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Richard, 51, and co-star Mythbusters Tory Bellici were tasked with building a craft to get them safely away from the remote location in Panama.
After managing just a half-mile distance, they were swiftly rescued by the TV camera crew travelling in their nearby boat, in what the ex Top Gear host described as a very hairy moment.
He told Mirror Online the shark “shot out of the water like a missile leaving a submarine,” and feared the pair would become a “tasty morsel” for the mammal.
He continued: “We both got out of the water pretty quickly.
“We’re very brave and very tough, and we survived.”
After the drama subsided, the presenters were made aware the creature was a whale shark, which does not eat humans.
Meanwhile, in a preview for the show set for release on Amazon Prime later this month, Richard took the chance to poke fun at his long-running TV co-star, Jeremy Clarkson.
He quipped how the host was “out of shape” in opening scenes for The Grand Escapists trailer, which saw him stranded on a beach.
Richard can be seen picking up a discarded football on a desert island as he exclaims: “Old, leathery and out of shape.”
