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Tom Blyth nearly died after choking on a piece of jambalaya, he said on the Jan. 13 episode of The View
The People We Meet on Vacation star was out on a date with a new girlfriend in New Orleans at the time
He was embarrassed, he said, so he “did what you’re not supposed to do” and tried to handle the matter privately in the bathroom
Tom Blyth once choked on a piece of jambalaya — and his attempts to hide it from his new girlfriend nearly cost him his life.
The People We Meet on Vacation actor, 30, appeared on The View Tuesday, Jan. 13, where he revealed that a past dinner date in New Orleans quickly turned perilous when he choked on a bite of chicken jambalaya.
The View co-hosts asked Blyth if, like his character Alex in the recent film adaptation of Emily Henry’s bestselling novel, he ever experienced a travel mishap. Yes, he replied — that one time he had a “near-death experience.”
“We were towards the end of the film. My relatively new girlfriend at the time was coming to visit, and I was trying to impress her,” Blyth began. “I took her out to dinner, [and] I choked on some chicken jambalaya.”
Amy Sussman/Getty
Tom Blyth.
“Genuinely, seriously choked. And I did what you’re not supposed to do, and I took myself off to the bathroom,” he continued.
Blyth said he was “embarrassed” because his relationship with the woman was new, so he figured he’d deal with the matter in private. But in the bathroom, Blyth recalled, he couldn’t breathe for about a minute and a half.
When he exited the restroom, Blyth made it clear to his girlfriend and a nearby waiter that something was wrong.
“I looked at her, and I looked at the waiter, and no one knew what to do. “I looked the waiter dead in the eye,” Blyth said, and motioned to the waiter that he needed someone to do the Heimlich maneuver on him to dislodge the food. Ultimately, the waiter “literally saved my life,” Blyth said, adding that he left a “big tip” to say thank you.
The whole experience somehow got even more embarrassing when a group of women at the restaurant approached him afterwards. They told him they recognized him from another project, and then asked for a photo with him.
“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I was like, ‘You just watched me almost die in the most embarrassing circumstances,'” Blyth said, adding that he tried to divert the attention in the moment by telling the women they mistook his identity.
Charley Gallay/Getty for Netflix
Tom Blyth.
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Blyth’s new film People We Meet on Vacation was partially filmed in New Orleans, according to IMDb. The actor is currently dating Daniela Norman, an actress who starred in 2019’s Cats and the 2020 Netflix dance drama Tiny Pretty Things.
People We Meet on Vacation is available to stream on Netflix.
Read the original article on People