The sports pundit was the victim of an elaborate prank, set up by his colleagues at the Newstalk radio station and the Naked Camera team.

During a corporate lunch on Baggot Street in Dublin, Hook was told that he had secured the biggest interview of his career and that he had just 15 minutes to get back to the Newstalk station.

"The sales manager said that Michael McDowell was willing to give me an interview about the Taoiseach in Manchester and that we had to pre-record the whole thing, " Hook told the Sunday Tribune yesterday. "I raced out to the taxi that they had ordered for me and told him to do a U-turn, so we'd be back at the office in two minutes."

But the taxi driver . . . a Naked Camera plant . . . refused. He drove Hook away from the station, and every time he was instructed to turn right he went left instead.

"I was going crazy and using four-letter words fairly profusely, and all the time he was telling me that it was his first day on the job and driving me further and further away, " said Hook. "Then he started pulling into a petrol station because he said he wanted a bar of chocolate. At that point, I tried to get out of the car."

The vehicle was still moving when Hook leaped out and raced down the canal, leaving the taxi driver screaming for his 60 fare.

"I found it funny when I realised, " said Hook. "But I'm not sure what it will do for my reputation as a reasonable man. Certainly, I'm not sure if any taxi driver will pick me up after they've seen the show. " Filming for series three of the show is continuing and, according to a spokeswoman, there are plans to target more celebrities in the coming weeks. Exclusive footage of the prank will be screened in the Sugar Club in Dublin on Friday night, as part of a Naked Camera party to celebrate the release of the show's second series on DVD.

The event will also feature one of the Naked Camera characters, Jake Stevens, performing a new single that he hopes will make it to the Christmas number one.

A limited number of tickets are still on sale from www. tickets. ie.