Ted Danson: Cheers star helps Woody Harrelson after motorcycle accident on way to Conan O'Brien interview

The 62-year-old actor who is best known for starring in Cheers, Natural Born Killers (1994) and True Detective (2014), took a “tumble” whilst travelling on his motorcycle to appear on O’Brien’s “Need a Friend” podcast.

Starring alongside his Cheers co-star Ted Danson, O’Brien said: “I think we should address the elephant in the room. Woody, we started a little bit later than we thought because you had a bit of a tumble. Is it fair to call it a tumble?”

Harrelson, who had a bandaged hand said: “I think a tumble is a fair term. I did go over my handlebars.” Describing the incident as “embarrassing”, he explained he was “passing this Tesla on the left that I thought was moving a little slow but I didn’t realize he was moving slow because he’s taking a left.”

When asked if he always rode a motorcycle, he replied: “Well, I always feel like the shortest distance between two points in LA is a motorcycle. So I tend to take it,” adding: “But today, it proved not to be very fast.”

To which O’Brien revealed that the podcast had to be delayed due to the accident, he said: “We lost some time while people were figuring out 'Are you alive?' Your soul had to re-enter your body."

Harrelson did confirm he had been wearing a helmet and that it had helped him, explaining: "I was wearing a helmet, yes. It actually did help me because I did hit my head.” He added: "I always thought I'd be OK; I just felt like there was some pain involved. I felt the pain, but I never thought I'd be killed or anything or maimed."

The actor’s hand was bandaged up “like a cartoon”, with his former co-star Ted Danson admitting he had come to Harrelson’s rescue. Danson said: “That’s because I wrapped it and I thought it looked funnier that way.”

Harrelson said: "We're in the bathroom and I'm like, 'You played a doctor, right?' And he says, 'Yeah, I also played a lawyer, so we could sue the guy.' I said, 'Well, I think it's gonna have to be a lawyer for the defence cause it was my fault."

Harrelson and Danson previously starred together on the NBC hit sitcom Cheers which ran from 1982 to 1993. It’s been over three decades since the series wrapped with the pair deciding to reunite for a new podcast, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (Sometimes),” which sees them sit down with celebrity guests including Gordon Ramsey, Will Arnett and Jane Fonda.

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