Kit Harington reveals he nearly died as a child

Game Of Thrones actor Kit Harington says he was seconds away from death when he got into difficulties in a swimming pool when he was just four years old.

“Once, I nearly drowned in a swimming pool. When I was four. I was seconds away from death, apparently,” Harington told Sunday Times Culture magazine.

The 31-year-old actor, who is married to his former Game of Thrones co-star Rose Leslie, used to have a volatile relationship with his older brother and joked his career stems from the way he used to be able to get his sibling into trouble very easily when they were young.

Discussing the sibling rivalry in his new play True West, he said: “My older brother will find this play hilarious, because he used to kick the [expletive] out of me.

“We’re very, very close, but we fought when we were younger. There’s something in this play that appeals to that side of me and my brother’s relationship, way back when. We were quite competitive. I won’t tell you what my brother used to do to me, because it was horrible.

“Actually, my brother attributes my whole career to the fact that I learnt to play at crying early on, being a little [expletive]. He didn’t actually have to beat the [expletive] out of me to get into trouble.”