BBC star Bruce Parry 'almost fainted' after taking part in indigenous ritual that saw him 'push penis inside body'

In an interview with Metro, Parry, who is returning to screens with revival series of his hit BBC documentary show Tribe, said that the shocking ritual was one of the only things he had ever said “no” to.

He said: “The first time I said no in my whole TV career was when my dear friend in New Guinea tried to push my penis back inside my body and he got halfway. But then I nearly fainted and said, ‘No more.’”

The 56-year-old added that the second time he refused to take part in ritual is when he was offered to have his front upper and lower teeth to be knocked out by the Mucubal people in Angola. The tradition is considered to be a customary, with the missing front teeth a sign of beauty in the Mucubal community.

Bruce said: “I didn’t feel it would necessarily take the story to the next level, from my perspective anyway.”

Despite his reservations with the two rituals, the documentary maker said that he does not judge them for traditions that are not customary in Western civilisation.

Tribes originally ran from 2005 until 2007 and followed Bruce as he visited remote, indigenous tribes and spent a month living within the different cultures. The show has been rebooted by the BBC, with the first episode of the new series set to premiere on Sunday, March 30.

It will mark the first time Bruce has appeared on television in a decade. The BBC’s synposis of the new Tribe with Bruce Parry series reads: “ After over a decade away from TV, Bruce Parry returns to explore remote tribes living radically different lives. He visits three extraordinary communities: the Waimaha people of the Amazon, the Mucubal tribe in the Namib Desert, and the inhabitants of the remote island of Sumba. Bruce immerses himself in their traditional ways as the first foreign visitor to live among them.”

Tribe with Bruce Parry will air at 9pm on BBC Two on Sunday, March 30.