‘How bad can waterboarding be? It’s terrible!’: TV adventurer Guy Martin reveals how being kidnapped in Colombia for new show was his toughest challenge yet – and why he turned down Top Gear
Daredevil Guy Martin who shot a documentary in the Colombian jungle where he was voluntarily waterboarded and tested a bullet proof hoodie admitted the experience was ‘f***ing terrible’.
The motorcycling ace, who is known for his exploits on two wheels recorded a new series in the troubled South American country.
The programme, which is being broadcast on Sunday, said he had lost his cool while filming the show.
The professional racer has performed wild stunts during several of his previous Channel 4 shows – including recreating Steve McQueen’s famous jump during the Great Escape.
But, he turned down the BBC when they approached him to join Top Gear as ‘I don’t want to be famous’.
Guy Martin, pictured in a Colombian jungle was waterboarded and shot with live ammunition during the filming of a TV documentary in the South American country
Martin was subjected to a mock abduction where he was hooded and blindfolded as he experienced what happens during a Colombian kidnapping
However, the Grimsby-born presenter/racer has become a cult hero as a result of his television performances.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Martin explains what exactly it was like to be kidnapped and waterboarded – having experienced a training exercise designed to simulate what happens during an abduction.
He said: ‘I’m full of nuts and bolts. I’ve had loads of bones broken. Waterboarding is a different kettle of fish. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I was suffocating – I had to do something. I knew what waterboarding was. I thought, “Well, how bad can it be?” “It’s just a wet cloth over your face.” Well, I can tell you how bad it can be: it’s f—ing terrible. I was squealing.’
Martin began his career by dismantling lawnmowers to see if he could improve them and later became a truck fitter.
He had a major accident during the 2015 Ulster Grand Prix and began working on television.
Martin, pictured, said he ws not prepared for the terror experienced during an abduction and waterboarding
During the show, Martin joins a Colombian special forces team ahead of a raid on a jungle cocaine plant. He also visits Pablo Escobar’s home town of Medellin.
However, the presenter believes the war against drugs has been lost.
He added: ‘Colombia is the perfect place to grow cocaine,” says Martin. That’s never going to stop. The only way around it is to control it, to legalise it. I’ve never taken drugs. I don’t need any more highs in my life. I don’t have all the facts to hand, and I don’t have an educated comment. But surely to legalise it, that would get rid of all the killings.’
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