Joanna Lumley reveals she was ambushed by bandits in Haiti

The incident took place while the Absolutely Fabulous star was filming her new ITV documentary 
Joanna Lumley in Haiti
ITV
George Fenwick3 March 2020
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

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’.

Joanna Lumley in Haiti
ITV

“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.”

Fernando Medina/ITV

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.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in