Matthew Kelly was almost killed by a falling disco ball during “Stars In the Their Eyes.”

The 71-year-old presenter hosted the singing competition, in which viewers voted as their favourite singers, from 1993 to 2004 and recalled a terrifying near-death experience as he approached the stage and one of the contestants was in the middle of rehearsing his song.

In the podcast “My Time Capsule” he said: “As I walked on stage, this giant mirror ball fell from the ceiling and shattered into a thousand pieces exactly where I would have been standing two seconds later.”

“It would have killed me. We were all thrown out of the studio.

“I said, imagine the newspapers the next day: ‘Matthew Kelly killed in horrific glitterball tragedy. That’s how he would have wanted to die.'”

Although Matthew himself found the whole thing funny, not everyone took the ordeal in their stride.

He added: “I got scolded for laughing because health and safety went crazy. I found it hilarious.”

Stars In Their Eyes is set to be relaunched next year and will return to ITV as Starstruck with Olly Murs as host.

It is said that the original show’s famous tagline – “Tonight I, Matthew, will…” – will not be revised for the remake, although the former host fondly recalls the phrase said by each contestant before their transformation.

He said: “The best thing about that catchphrase was that my name was in it. I didn’t invent it and I was the only one who couldn’t say it.”

“People couldn’t come to me and say, ‘Go on, say that sentence!’ Why should I tell myself that? I couldn’t.”