Ross Kemp thought he might die
21 January 2008 - Ross Kemp feared for his life while making new TV show 'Ross Kemp in Afghanistan'.
The former 'EastEnders' star - who spent eight weeks with troops on the front line in the war torn Helmand Province for the Sky One show - admits he has "never been more scared" than when he was shot at by the Taliban.
Ross told BANG Showbiz: "You just want to hug the ground when you're being shot at and you have no cover whatsoever. Your human instinct in that situation is to want the ground to swallow you up because you know how vulnerable you are. There were bullets literally whizzing right over my head. You could feel the whoosh of air as they went past. I have never been more scared in my life.
"It's a day I will never forget for the rest of my life. At one point when a bullet passed my right arm, a guy called Cooky to my right actually thought I was dead."
The 43-year-old actor admits he couldn't face joining the army.
He said: "I always stress with these things that I am an actor. We got training and made sure we would not be a liability to the soldiers when in a contact situation with the enemy.
"But me and the crew are not soldiers. I don't have to face being redeployed elsewhere, whereas these boys keep on having to make these sacrifices. I can go back to the much easier world of being an actor, and I realise how lucky I am."
The first episode of 'Ross Kemp in Afghanistan' will be shown on Sky One tonight (21.01.08) at 9pm.
(C) BANG Media International
