Martin Kemp, the 80s music icon and I'm A Celebrity star, has shared the chilling details of a life-threatening experience in Rio de Janeiro that left him convinced he was about to die.
A Night of Terror in Rio
The former Spandau Ballet bassist was filming the 1994 movie Boca when the incident occurred. During the early hours of the morning, Kemp and a wardrobe assistant were leaving a favela and had stopped at traffic lights. The deserted streets suddenly became the setting for his worst nightmare.
Two men, described as having long, unkempt hair and wearing 'rotten old jeans and torn t-shirts', approached their car. Kemp initially paid them little mind, but the situation escalated with terrifying speed.
The next moment, the men brandished two giant magnum guns. One thrust his weapon through the driver's window, while the other pointed his directly at Kemp's head, screaming at him in Portuguese.
Facing Mortality: 'I Thought That Was The End'
In that instant, Martin Kemp was certain his life was over. His mind flashed to two corpses he had seen earlier that week, and he thought, 'I'm next. What a strange way to go. I'm going to be shot in Rio.' His whole body shook uncontrollably with a fear he had never known.
In a desperate act, he pushed the car door open. One of the men immediately seized him, yanked him from the vehicle, and threw him face-down onto the ground. Lying there, a strange thought crossed his mind: 'Hang on, I've not been shot yet, so it's going quite well.'
The Shocking Twist That Saved Him
Just as abruptly as it began, the situation transformed. The man hauled Kemp to his feet, stared him down, and uttered two words that changed everything: 'Spandau Ballet.'
The armed stranger then produced a piece of paper and demanded an autograph. Kemp, still trembling so violently he could barely hold a pen, managed to scribble his signature. It was later revealed that the men were undercover police officers attempting to intimidate them, a fact completely unknown to Kemp and his colleague during the ordeal.
Reflecting on the traumatic event on the Travel Secrets podcast, Kemp confessed, 'In all my life, I have never been so scared. I thought that was the end of my life. Thank God for Spandau Ballet.'
The musician is currently appearing on ITV's I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here, which continues at 9pm.
