Joanna Lumley has revealed she and her film crew were ambushed in Haiti while filming a documentary.
The 73-year-old star told Radio Times that while filming her new ITV documentary, Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti, a group of armed bandits threatened them, saying: "We want your money or your life."
“Suddenly there was a blockage across the road, they’d put branches down,” she told the magazine.
“Luckily, we had two big bodyguards who got out and said, ‘Come on guys, clear this away’.
“Sometimes they dig trenches, pour oil in and set fire to it, then they come with guns and take your wallets.”
Lumley said the crew had arrived in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince in the midst of a breakout of riots.
“We had a police escort to the hotel,” she said. "Riots break out like wildfires across the land and if you’re in that place, you’re stuck.”
The actress and presenter said the incident didn’t frighten her: “I’m not really an afraid kind of person.
“If you look timid, people and animals pick it up very fast,” she elaborated. "In Haiti, people are so poor, but if you say, ‘Bonjour,’ and put your hand out, you’ve made friends immediately.”
The ambushing incident will reportedly not feature in the film.
Lumley also went to Cuba while filming the documentary, which airs Tuesday, March 10 at 9pm on ITV.
