A shark devoured my arm and leg - it changed my life for the better and I've even dedicated my life to protecting them in the wild
Despite the terrifying ordeal, the 47-year-old, who has been helping the famous cast get over their fears in the brand new ITV show, now dedicates his life to protecting them in the wild.
On February 11 2009, Paul was taking part in a military operation in Sydney Harbour when a bull shark attacked him.
The shark managed to rip both off his hamstring and hand, and despite that, Paul managed to get himself to shore before being rushed to hospital.
Recalling the moment with Metro, Paul said: 'I'm thinking, I've seen Shark Week, I'll jab it in the eye but I can't move my arm.
'I look down and my hand is trapped in the shark's mouth as well as my leg.
'I grab it by the nose, try to push it off me but it decides that I'm breakfast, thrashes me around, takes me underwater and the pain is so all encompassing it takes the fight out of me.
'I was drowning in agony, being eaten alive and I realised there was nothing I could do, so I gave up.'
After a week in hospital, Paul's leg was removed, and despite the agonising ordeal caused by the predator has led him on to become a shark conservationist.
This has also led him on to present a number of documentaries for Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
He's also currently helping the star-studded cast of SHARK! Celebrity Infested Waters overcome their fears.
Helen George, 41, Lucy Punch, 47, Ade Adepitan, 52, Rachel Riley, 39, Ross Roble, 49, Lenny Henry, 66, and Dougie Poynter, 37, are those taking part in the show.
Paul said of the programme: 'The show is really touching. It has all the emotions – fear, anxiety, happiness.
'Every spectrum of human emotion is there but it has an underlying message too. It's about the plight of sharks.
'People are out there killing sharks for fun every day and by doing so it's bringing us closer to extinction.
'If the sharks die, the ocean dies and we die.
'We're trying to get celebrities and the viewers to fall in love with sharks – which, granted, is hard, because they keep biting people.'
Despite that, last week the programme failed to impress viewers who branded it 'boring' and 'unwatchable' following it's first episode on Monday.
The new series, which coincides with 50th anniversary of Jaws, sees a bunch of famous faces, who are terrified of the sea, face their fears head on by taking a plunge surrounded by the scary predators.
C all The Midwife 's Helen George, 40, who rubbed viewers up the wrong way with her tearful and fearful reactions branded 'attention seeking' and 'annoying'.
Taking to X fans fumed: 'TV execs are now so bereft of ideas that they're literally feeing celebrities to sharks for our entertainment': 'This is pretty unwatchable because there's one celebrity on there who wants the entire programme to be about "me me me"'.
'WTF is she crying for FFS. You're on a f*****g show called Celebrity Infested Waters what did she think it was, swimming with Dolphins. Seriously waits the point of this tho, boring concept for a show': 'Helen just stick to acting': 'What is the point of this sown actually?'
The BBC actress, who plays nurse Trixie in Call The Midwife, previously revealed she has a lifelong phobia of the ocean.
She told how she had only 'been up to her knees' in the water in the last 20 years after an incident when she was younger.
Helen previously explained: 'When I was very young I was at a swimming party. I remember going underwater, looking up and foam mats had been chucked where I was coming up. I couldn't get out.'
Teasing what's to come, a ITV spokesperson said: 'The show will dare a group of ocean-phobic celebrities to confront their greatest fear – sharks.
'Throughout their adrenaline-fueled, challenge-heavy journey in the Bahamas – the shark capital of the world – these A-listers will push past their limits to come nose to nose with nature's 'villains.'
'Their firsthand experiences will provide immeasurable excitement and new perspective.
'They'll come to appreciate sharks' valuable place on the food chain and in our ecosystem, recognising that a world devoid of these notoriously terrifying creatures is downright frightening.
'Those taking part will be getting up close and personal with a number of different breeds of sharks throughout filming.'
Head of Factual Entertainment at Plimsoll Productions, Karen Plumb, said: 'The team at Plimsoll is uniquely positioned to pioneer this format that blends conservation with wildly entertaining pop culture.
'We're constantly looking for innovative approaches to wildlife storytelling and are certain that our fish-out-of-water spin – delivering 50 years after Jaws – will transform the world's perception of these critical predators before it's too late.'
Head of Entertainment Commissioning ITV, Katie Rawcliffe, said: 'We 're super excited to be combining the work of Plimsoll - a Blue Chip natural history production company - with the expertise of ITV Entertainment.
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