Helen George panics as she faces fear in SHARK! Celebrity Infested Waters

What did you miss?

Helen George panicked and had to get out of the sea as a huge bull shark circled her while she cage-dived in SHARK! Celebrity Infested Waters.

The Call The Midwife actor is one of the stars taking part in the new ITV reality show, which is being filmed in Bimini in the Bahamas and comes as Jaws celebrates its 50th anniversary. The series aims to get ocean and shark-phobic celebrities to change their perception and face their fears, with the end goal being swimming in the sea with the creatures.

George and fellow celebs Sir Lenny Henry, Ross Noble, Rachel Riley, Ade Adepitan, Lucy Punch and Dougie Poynter were thrown straight in at the deep end as they went cage-diving among the predators in the first episode. But it left George tearful and in a panic. “I want to come out, I want to come out!” she cried.

What, how and why?

In the episode, which aired on Monday, 14 July, several of the celebs revealed that they were afraid of the water or sharks. George, who is best known for playing Trixie Franklin in Call The Midwife, explained that she was so scared of the sea that she couldn’t go in for a dip with the two young daughters she shares with her co-star Jack Ashton.

The show aims to get the celebs swimming in the sea with sharks. (ITV)

“I hate it, I just hate being underwater, I hate it,” she said.

“I remember when I was very young I was at a swimming party. I remember going underwater and looking up and foam mats had been chucked on top of where I was sort of coming up. I couldn’t get out.

“So I think there is a fear there. Something in me that thinks, ‘Don’t go underwater because you don’t know if you are going to make your way back up’.”

When it was time to go down into the cage, the show’s experts decided the stars would go in pairs.

But as she waited for her turn, George admitted she was in “sheer panic mode”. “I think one of the main issues as I am going through this process and this journey is that I hadn’t realised how acute my fear of water was and my fear of putting my head under the water,” she explained.

The stars went underwater in a cage while sharks swam around them. (ITV)

Instead of having another celeb with her, one of the marine experts accompanied her into the cage. George made it into the water but soon became flustered. As the sharks circled the cage she called: “I want to come out, I want to come out!”

However, getting back out proved to be a problem as she was terrified of the sharks biting her feet as she climbed up the cage.

Helen George was in tears when she got out of the water. (ITV screengrab)

“Can you show me? Can someone show me?” she asked. “It’s OK to climb? My feet? But what about my feet? They will bite them!” “Show me, show me,” she continued.

George ended up being helped out of the cage, but was in tears as she knelt on the dock.

“I’m so sorry, I couldn’t get out,” she cried. “I was so panicking. I was like, I can’t walk my feet to get out because they will eat my toes. I am so sorry, I was so scared about coming out.”

Later, she told the other celebs: “I was really scared and it took me a moment just to even think, is it OK to put my feet down? Are they going to be coming from the bottom as well? Where do we put our feet? And I was suddenly like, I’ve got feet, bitey, I can’t… the ladder. I couldn’t get out… had a complete panic attack.”

What else happened on SHARK! Celebrity Infested Waters?

There was more drama when comedian Noble was bitten by a shark as he stood in the sea. The show’s participants had been taken to an area known for lemon sharks, to try and get them used to being close to marine creatures in the water.

Ross Noble was bitten on the leg. (ITV screengrab)

They walked into the sea and stood still in small groups, holding their arms out of the water as the sharks swam around them.

However, after one shark leapt out of the water to grab a fish, others started coming closer and circling the group. Suddenly, a large lemon shark tried to dart by Noble but struck his leg. When he didn’t move, it bit him on the ankle.

Read more: SHARK! Celebrity Infested Waters

“A shark just bit me!” he exclaimed.

The experts advised that it was time to get out of the water, and the stars started walking back toward the boat, going slowly so as not to startle the sharks further.

“Did it hurt?” the others asked Noble, as he quipped: “We will deal with the bravery medal at a later stage!”

“Let me get back on the boat, I’ll sign a book deal and tell you all about it,” he joked.

The comic couldn’t resist a joke about his nip. (ITV screengrab)

As he clambered aboard, the star teased that his foot was “hanging on”.

However, luckily, he was not actually injured, leaving the celebs teasing him that it was as if a kitten had nipped him.

SHARK! Celebrity Infested Waters is streaming on ITVX and continues on ITV at 9pm on Monday, 21 July.