Shark attack survivor and expert Paul de Gelder says now is the right time to educate Australians on apex predators, while Scott Cam is adamant he will never dive again.

Nine’s new reality series Shark!, in which six celebrities are immersed into shark-infested waters in the Bahamas, will screen next week -just a week after another death in Australia.

Spearfisherman Michael Jensz, 39, died when he was attacked by a shark off the Far North Queensland coast on Sunday.

A week earlier 38-year-old Perth father-of-two, Steven Mattaboni, was killed while spearfishing with friends at Horseshoe Reef on Rottnest Island.

But for Paul de Gelder, a survivor of a 2009 attack by a three-metre bull shark -which took his right hand and right hamstring- Nine’s show is a chance to educate audiences on these often misunderstood beasts.

“We train these celebrities up to know what to do in situations whereby they come face to face with these potentially dangerous animals, pass that knowledge onto them by putting them on television show for all of you. You get to learn, and hopefully Australia does, as well,” he told press at a media launch in Sydney yesterday.

The series features Scott Cam, Ariarne Titmus, Lynne McGranger, Matt Nable, Sam Thaiday and Tammy Hembrow amongst hammerhead and bull sharks, building toward the ultimate goal: swimming outside of a cage with tiger sharks.

For Block host Scott Cam, being a contestant was largely unfamiliar turf.

“I am the contestant, which has been a real change for me…. taking orders and things like that,” he said.

“I feel as though humans should come first and sharks come second. Not (that I’m suggesting) kill all the sharks, but I really have a strong fear, because I’m 63 years old, I grew up on Bondi Beach. Every second weekend a shark alarm would go off, and everyone would run out of the water and stand on the sand. We’d be terrified that there’s a shark in the beach. Then another whistle, and then we’d all go back in the water again.

“We grew up with this very healthy, strong fear of sharks, and I still had that.

“I’m a recovering people-pleaser, so when (Nine exec) Adrian Swift rang me 20 times saying ‘Please, we want you to do this.’ I said ‘Righto I’ll do it.’”

But Cam admitted to a lot of anxiety in filming the series.

“At the back of our boat were 10 six foot sharks just circling on the surface, and we jumped off the back, into them. It’s incredible. I’ve told this story many times to people, and every single person has said, ‘There’s no way I’d do that!’”

Paul de Gelder insisted, “People will say, ‘They’re not dangerous sharks, or they’re friendly sharks.’ No. They weren’t. There’s a lot of stuff going around saying, ‘Sharks are like puppy dogs.’ No. As soon as you turn your back on one of those sharks, they’ll eat your whole head off. I was very poignant in making sure you guys knew that, even though I didn’t want to freak you out too much.”

Scott Cam, body parts intact, insisted Shark! was not a show he would revisit anytime soon. Or ever.

“People say “Would you do it again?’ and I say ‘No!’ he exclaimed.

“People ask ‘Are you coming on another dive?’ and I say ‘No! I’m never diving again!’”

Meanwhile former Home & Away veteran Lynne McGranger agreed to the swim to show people that you shouldn’t live your age.

“Your age is just a number. You should live your life, not your age. But also because it was so far removed from anything I’ve ever been used to, I grew up with Bondi, my grandparents lived there,” she said.

“I always felt comfortable in the water, just not under the water. But to have these incredible humans and our beautiful producers, and you and (researcher) Annie Guttridge. There wasn’t a single d***head on the show. It was a d***head-free zone. It was great, I think that was really evident from the get-go.”

But McGranger also qualified her position.

“If a shark turned up in my lounge room I’d be seriously pissed off and scared. But I’m going into its lounge, so I expect it to be a little bit curious or interested or maybe even a little bit hungry. But I get what you taught us about not behaving like bait, and that was half my problem, anyway.”

She added, “I think I would just say to the audience, ‘Respect them, respect their environment, and just allow them to be, because they are an essential part of the life cycle of that planet, a very essential part.’”

Shark! screens 7pm Sunday, 7:30pm Monday on Nine.