Ardal O'Hanlon has revealed that it is so hot during filming of Caribbean detective series Death in Paradise that he has to strip to his underwear between takes.
The Monaghan actor, who is taking over from Kris Marshall as the star of the BBC One series, was a guest on The One Show on Tuesday night, where he told presenters Matt Baker and Michelle Ackerley that - in true Irish style - he is "not used to the heat at all".
"I wouldn't have probably chosen to go there on my holidays, even," said O'Hanlon of Guadeloupe where the series is filmed. "I would've gone to Iceland or somewhere by choice. I wanted to do a Scandi noir drama but beggars can't be choosers!"
"But it's so hot," O'Hanlon continued. "You find that you actually between takes... You have to strip down to your underwear. You don't have to - I just choose to!"
In a bid to keep cool, O'Hanlon explained the cast are given electric fans and leather chamois, dipped in iced water.
"And they bring you water and watermelon and all sorts of things and they fan you!" he said. "At first you think, you don't want people making a fuss of you. But after a few days there - after a few hours - you're thinking, 'Yeah, bring it on!'. And you kind of need it. And some people, like the sweatier cast members - I'm not included in that - people get hairdryers to dry out their clothes. I'm telling you far too much!"
O'Hanlon said the "invaluable" advice he had been given by departing star Marshall was to film "big scenes early in the day" to beat the heat.
"People think it's a great jolly," he told the hosts. "You clearly do and nobody has any sympathy for me, I understand that! But you're not there on holidays; you're there to work.
"The island has so many compensations that it would be churlish to talk about the mosquitoes and the heat and the monsoons and the hurricanes and all that kind of stuff. You just embrace it and you just go with it because so many things are out of your control."
The season finale of Death in Paradise is on BBC One on Thursday at 9pm.
