Ben Fogle had near miss with deadly snake as he shot Congo documentary

What did you miss?

Ben Fogle has revealed he had a near miss with a deadly venomous snake when he was making his new show Into The Congo.

The TV adventurer explores the “beating heart of Africa” in his Channel 5 documentary series, and said the end product was “beautiful” as it shows viewers “all sides of the Congo”. Opening up on The One Show, he told how moved he was by the experience and said he had made friends for life.

However, the star admitted there was one moment that could have gone very wrong.

What, how, and why?

Fogle said he had the close call when he went out fishing with the Mbendjele people, who he was staying with in the Congo.

They showed him how they would fish by making little dams in tiny streams. "The fish that they catch are tiny,” he said. “They are like an inch long.

“I mistook a very small snake for one of the fish and they all warned me that if I had been bitten that would have been it. You know, it was a deadly snake.”

“The end of Fogle!” said presenter Alex Jones, looking shocked. “That could have been the end of me, I know!” replied the star. “Strange way to go!”

As he told the scary story, a clip was played that showed Fogle fishing and helping out, before the snake was spotted wriggling in the mud. “Don’t touch it!” one man warned the star.

What else did Ben Fogle say on The One Show?

Fogle has been exploring the world for years in shows such as Wild In Africa and Extreme Dreams. Asked about the biggest “pinch me moment” of his career, the presenter said it was climbing Mount Everest in 2018.

He said: “I think when I finally summited Everest, when I stood on the top of the highest mountain in the world. For me, who was a bit of a failure at school, who was hopeless at sport, I was one of the dweebs you know, wasn’t very sure of myself, to finally reach that point that I dreamed of all my life really was a moment that I will never ever ever forget.”

“It was amazing,” he added.

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