Chris Tarrant feared he was going to die during a horrific plan ordeal - and his life has changed drastically since.
The former Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host, who presented the show's very first episode in 1998, was convinced that the tables had turned and he had run out of lifelines
Back in 2014, Chris was on a 12-hour flight back home to London from Bangkok in March 2014 when he suffered a minor stroke while the plane was still in the air.
"The stroke was the scariest thing in my life," Chris has told The Mirror. "I thought I was going to die in mid air. I was in good hands but also bloody lucky.
Panicked Chris, who has been filming in Asia and South America before falling ill on board the flight, tried to call his partner of 15 years, Janet Bird, to tell her he love her.
He didn't tell anyone on the flight that he was having a stroke at 39,000 feet then collapsed just after he got off the plane.
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Chris credits his full recovery to the swift action of paramedics, intensive speech therapy and a physiotherapist who "beat me up."
The emergency services immediately rushed to his aid when the plane landed and he was taken to London's Charing Cross Hospital.
Two months later, Chris had still not regained full control of his movements or speech two months on but was undergoing physiotherapy.
The presenter made some major changes to his diet and lifestyle to minimise the risk of it happening again.
"I don't drink whisky at all. I just thought neat whisky's probably not a good idea," says Chris.
"Jane's been good at sorting out my diet and I don't eat pies and chips. I've lost a bit of weight and am feeling pretty good. Actually, I'm annoyingly happy now."
Doctors found a potentially fatal blood clot in his leg and performed an emergency operation before it could dislodge and cause a major stroke.
They didn't give him much chance aft first and said he would never walk again - but the determined presenter proved them wrong.
Speaking in 2018, he said: "I was always so sporty but suddenly I couldn’t catch a ball, kick a football or stand on one leg. I couldn’t even lift my arms or legs at one point – but that all came back with a really tough six months of physio.
"My physiotherapist used to arrive with a bag which said on it ”Pleasure equals pain”. She would then kick the s*** out of me for an hour. Then I would thank her and pay her!
"I also needed a lot of speech therapy as my talking was a bit slurred. I had to cut down on my workload and now I don’t work nearly as hard as I used to – just enough to keep my brain ticking over."
Back in May 2015, Chris got the chance to thank the paramedics that saved his life when they made a surprise appearance on This Morning.
"I collapsed as soon as I got off the plane and I was treated immediately by paramedics at Heathrow Airport," he told hosts Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden.
The star, who described his health now as: "ridiculously well," was left speechless when Amanda and Phil announced that the paramedics that saved his life were in the studio.
Delighted to see the men and women who saved him, Chris thanked the emergency service workers while showering them with hugs and praise.
"I remember being in the ambulance and being very frightened, but still thinking the ambulance and sirens were pretty cool," Chris said.
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