Steve-O reveals what happened when he was detained by police for jumping off Tower of London Bridge
On Friday, Steve-O revealed on Instagram that he was detained by police after jumping from London's Tower Bridge into the River Thames the day prior. The stunt served to promote the U.K. leg of his Bucket List comedy tour, which he's filming the July 14 date for his third comedy special.
"I knew I could do it because I did the exact same thing almost exactly 20 years ago," Steve-O tells EW over the phone while planning out the pre-show set list for that night's stop at York Barbican. "It got a little bit of press 20 years ago, they said I might be charged, but this time, the cops were swarming me by the time I got out of the water. It was maybe more of a police response than was necessary, but bless their hearts because they were so nice."
courtesy of SteveO.com
The Jackass star, who was born in London, adds with a laugh, "When I jumped off the bridge, I expected I might get in trouble, but I knew they couldn't deport me because I'm British."
After Steve-O jumped from the bridge into the river (holding an umbrella, Mary Poppins style), he swam to a staircase on the side and climbed out of the water. But it took the police a long time to actually reach him since he was trapped behind a locked iron gate.
"It was pretty funny because the cops were on the other side of the gate but as soon as I got out of the water I was already behind bars. It was funny and symbolic," he says. "It took them quite a while to locate and get the key to work to open this gate and then the lock just wasn't working. It took so long to get that gate open that a crowd started amassing. They wanted to get me out of there and I think that was the main reason they put me in the cop car. As far as formal charges or tickets, they said I wasn't even in trouble and they wanted me to have a good day."
The biggest issue the police had with Steve-O's stunt had nothing to do with any broken laws, which he learned after he was detained and put in a cop car. "The supervisor got in the front seat and said that his main concern was that just this past week, three different people have jumped off that bridge exactly the same way I did, as suicide attempts," Steve-O says. "I immediately told the guy, 'Wow, that is an incredibly ineffective way to kill yourself.' But apparently one of those three people was actually successful, not because of the height, but it was more because of the current taking people away and causing them to drown. They were just very, very sensitive about legitimate suicide attempts and really underscored their concern about people jumping off the bridge to kill themselves."
Steve-O emphasizes that he supports the police and never intends to glamorize anything that could cause serious harm to others. "I just don't want to create the impression that I'm making light of suicide, and I'd even like to take that one step further and encourage anyone who's in emotional or mental distress to reach out and get support," he says. "I don't do what I do to upset people, that's not my intent. Genuinely, no matter how crazy what I do is, the purpose is not to upset people or offend people. I really just want to spread joy and inspire laughter. The spirit of what I do is not a malicious one, and that's important to me."
In fact, the most perilous aspect of Steve-O's jump had more to do with the actual cleanliness of the water of the river. "By far, the most dangerous thing about it is how toxic and polluted and filthy the River Thames is," he says. "I have a big new tattoo on my leg and a new tattoo, by definition, is an open wound. That's inviting real, real problematic infections."
But he's not worried about any lingering health issues because he's "challenged" his immune system his entire life. "I didn't even put a wrap over the tattoo — not even a SecondSkin, also known as Derm Shield," he says. "I had one with me and I was like, 'You know what? Screw it.'" He explains that he was inspired when he was 13 and he saw a guy brush his teeth in the Nile River. "He just dunked his toothbrush in the Nile, and I thought, 'Man, that guy's got to have a strong immune system.' So I made a decision to drink tap water in every single country that I go to, and I've done that ever since. I don't wash my hands, I don't use hand sanitizer. I just really try to invite germs into my body as much as possible so that I'll be stronger and healthier, so I really didn't even sweat the Thames."
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
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