Criss Angel Almost Drowns

It was the closest 'Mindfreak' Criss Angel has come to death. He claims he was less than ten seconds away from certain drowning during the filming a Houdini escape challenge with bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman at the Luxor's pool over the weekend in Vegas.

"I let my ego get in the way of safety," Criss told me. "I've done this escape since I was fourteen-years-old, but I'd never before done it underwater, and I almost drowned to death"

Chapman had bet Criss it would be impossible for him to escape from being tied up and manacled with 100 feet of rope. Criss took the challenge and let Dog tie his hands, his feet and his waist to a chair and then, in full view of rolling cameras for his top-rated A&E show, Dog put a lead weight on the chair and threw him into the deep end!

"I'd forgotten that water swells rope and thus tightens the knots even tighter than he had already tied them," Criss told LUXE LIFE in an exclusive interview. "I've practiced holding my breath underwater and can comfortably do three to four minutes, but that's without thrashing around trying to escape from something that tight. I got rope burns on my legs but managed to undo them. Then I managed to free my hands, but I couldn't free my waist."

"I've regularly practiced expanding my lungs holding my breath underwater, so I can take giant breaths before I go into the water, but now I'd used up all my air. I was now fighting to survive. I had no choice. It was drown or make one last desperate break for the surface. I used my last ounce of energy to get up and only then did my safety guys come in for me. They thought I was going to succeed with the escape and couldn't see me struggling underwater. I was completely out of it." "I thought I'd died. I thought I'd failed the escape, but Dog told me he was absolutely astounded that I'd succeeded in getting my hands and feet loose. I have skin burns to prove the battle.

Source: Robin Leach