Former Children’s Show Host Says He Was Nearly Killed by a Bear After Passing Out in the Woods Following a Bender

Former Tiswas and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host Chris Tarrant was almost mauled by a bear after a terrible hangover.

In a new Daily Mail article promoting his new book, For The Love of Bears, he told a story from his expeditions across Alaska, Scandinavia, Canada, and Russia.

“We were fishing for salmon in the wilds of Russia. We drank vodka the night before, then ate vodka jelly,” the TV host said. “It’s like normal jelly but set in pure Russian vodka. We had a lot of that.”

It was a hot day out in Russia, and Tarrant was carrying a lot of gear, so he lagged behind before eventually deciding on a nap.

“I lay down and fell asleep by a path in the woods. I woke up to find a huge Russian brown bear standing over me, looking down like he was thinking: ‘What is that stupid English creature doing? Shall I eat him? Or shall I find the salmon?,’” he said.

He froze, terrified, inches away from being bear food. Thankfully, the bear “wandered off.”

Moments later, his tour guide popped up to warn him that a very large and aggressive bear was somewhere in the vicinity. He regrettably confessed to his actions, to which the tour guide yelled “You are a stupid!”

“He was right. And I’ve never been on the vodka jelly since,” Tarrant said.

As the original host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, he certainly isn’t hurting for cash. Spending the rest of his life going on trips across the world to see bears is probably one of the cooler ways to spend it.

Tarrant’s book, For The Love of Bears, is out July 11.