Merlin's new Milky Way stunts are breathtaking!

NORTH Devon s own Britain s Got Talent star Merlin Cadogan is proving once again that he will brave the depths or reach for the heights in pursuit of adventure and to put on a show. Preparations for his new show at The Milky Way, Clovelly, this season hav

NORTH Devon's own Britain's Got Talent star Merlin Cadogan is proving once again that he will brave the depths or reach for the heights in pursuit of adventure and to put on a show.

Preparations for his new show at The Milky Way, Clovelly, this season have taken Merlin to the depths of the ocean off Egypt for free dive training with four times world champion Sara Campbell.

Closer to home he has been using the hills of Exmoor for training as he prepares to join a Three Peaks charity marathon this summer, climbing Britain's three highest peaks.

Merlin met up with Sara Campbell at the famous Blue Hole amid the coral reefs off Dahab while holidaying with his wife Sarah in Egypt.

There he was able to pick up vital advice while diving to more than 30 metres without the aid of an oxygen tank.

While he had already managed to hold his breath under water for 4 minutes and 20 seconds in a pool, the opportunity to take advice from Sara was something he could not miss, said Merlin.

They met at The Blue Hole, where the water plunges to hundreds of feet deep, providing ideal conditions for the free divers.

Although a member of the British Freedive Association, through which he had gained training and techniques which were valuable for his under water stunts, he had never actually been on a freedive before, said Merlin.

In Egypt he managed to dive to 30.2 metres - nothing like Sara's incredible 100m - but something which was praised as remarkable for his first attempts.

"It was tremendous to be able to dive with the best in the world and I consider myself very lucky. I was able to pick up a lot of advice and information," he said.

"I will be able to use this when I start my new season's show at The Milky Way in April, when I will be escaping from handcuffs while under water. There is only one other person currently doing this. It is quite difficult and if you get it wrong you could drown, so I thought I would get some advice from the best person in the world. Training is paramount to success."

Meanwhile, Merlin is also building up his stamina on dry land in preparation for the Three Peaks Challenge in July to raise money for the Starlight Found�ation which provides holidays for critically ill children and special family facilities for them to enjoy in hospitals.