Call the Midwife's Helen George exposes personal vulnerabilities in new show: "It's not glamorous"

In the series, Helen George, Lucy Punch, Sir Lenny Henry, Ross Noble, Rachel Riley, Ade Adepitan and Dougie Poynter get up close and personal with bull sharks in a diving cage, while interacting with hammerheads, stingrays and more on the islands of Bimini in the Bahamas, which is home to seven to ten different shark species.

As the breeds get bigger and more dangerous across five episodes, they work themselves up to the ultimate challenge: diving with tiger sharks.

Although the clue is in the name of the show, Call the Midwife star George didn’t really think they’d be swimming with sharks, because “it’s TV” and “who would actually do that?”

When she agreed to take part, she was not only scared of sharks, but had a phobia of even putting her head under the water – something she hadn’t done for 15 years. “I'm quite gung-ho as a person, so I thought I’d be fine, but I genuinely wasn’t,” she says. “At that point, the sharks were small fry. It was more about the water!”

In episode 1, she explains that when she was young, she went to a swimming party, and as she was trying to resurface from underwater, foam mats on the top prevented her from getting out.

But she signed up for the show for her daughters, aged three and seven. “I wanted to get more confident for them. They were impressed I even went in the first place, because they didn't think I would. I was really terrified of the water, so I might be a bit embarrassed about some of the scenes!

“I’m an actress and I play other people’s vulnerabilities, so playing my own is always terrifying. I’m ugly crying, there’s no hair and make-up... it’s not glamorous. Now I’m thinking, ‘What have I done?’ I haven’t been ‘myself’ on screen since I did Strictly [in 2015], and that was uncomfortable for me.”

She isn’t the only celeb stepping out of their comfort zone in the series, but they are all supported not only by each other, but also by safety, shark and diving experts throughout. That includes Paul de Gelder, who lost an arm and a leg in a bull shark attack, but now dedicates his life to shark conservation. They also all gained a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) certification.

George was a few days behind everyone else's training. “They didn’t know whether I’d be able to pass my PADI in time for filming, because I wasn’t up to the standard that everybody else was, because I was really scared. I thought they were gonna put me on the next plane home and get someone else.”

Instead, she was given the option to do a snorkelling course instead of the PADI. “It would have meant I was separate from the group and I didn’t want to be, so I knuckled down, put my big girl pants on and got on with it! I thought, ‘I’m not going to be behind everyone else. I’m not going to let myself fail in week one.’”

The celebs were in the Bahamas for just over three weeks, spending a good eight hours on the dive boat some days, and being in the wetsuit took some getting used to. “Sometimes it's really hot, sometimes it’s really cold. You're just constantly wet,” George explains.

“Your skin's rough as hell from all the sea water. You're just fighting against it and trying not to look rubbish for the camera at the same time. Vanity goes out the window. Everyone's peeing in their wetsuits!”

Across the series, George goes from someone who had never seen Jaws, because she was so afraid of sharks, to swimming with them and even appreciating them. “I will be watching Jaws – now I’ve seen them up close, it won't scare me at all!

“Sharks don’t want to eat us – we really do need to protect them. While we can joke about how scared I was, the whole premise of this show is to show how important they are and how we need to nurture them. Our marine life needs them as well.”

George’s favourite moment came when she saw two gigantic Hammerheads swimming above her in the water. “I hadn’t expected that I would be brave enough to do it. I was so emotional – they’re so rare to see. There were moments of meditation where I was completely in the moment and present.”

George’s aim of being on the show was that afterwards she’d be able to jump in the sea and not be as terrified. Has she achieved her goal? “I have been underwater. I haven't been diving since, but I want to go so I don't lose the skill.

“I didn't realise I was going to be overcoming my biggest fear on camera in front of the nation, but that's what it turned out to be!”

The latest issue of Radio Times is out now – subscribe here.

Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters will air on ITV1 and ITVX from Monday 14th July at 9pm.

Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.