Jessica Rowe narrowly avoided disaster on Thursday when she and her daughter Allegra escaped their burning car moments before it exploded on the school run.
And the ‘traumatised’ TV host has now refused to answer a question about how close they both came to dying, telling The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Friday: ‘We’re not going down that path.’
When asked what would’ve happened if a Good Samaritan bus driver hadn’t alerted her to the smoke coming out of her $66,000 Volvo XC 60, Jessica couldn’t bring herself to say.
‘We’re not going down that path’: Jessica Rowe has refused to answer a question about how close she and her daughter Allegra came to dying in a horror car explosion on Thursday
Radio host Kyle Sandilands said: ‘If he [Mev the bus driver] didn’t get you out of the car, could it have been way worse? How long between you getting dragged out of the car and the thing blowing up? How long?’
Jessica, who was speaking to the radio show via telephone, hesitated for a moment and was then interrupted by Allegra, 14, who told her she needed to go to school.
‘Well, I, you know what… I know, I’m coming, Allegra! I know your bus is about to come,’ she said.
Ordeal: When radio host Kyle Sandilands (left) asked what would’ve happened if a Good Samaritan bus driver hadn’t alerted her to the smoke coming out of her $66,000 Volvo XC 60, Jessica (centre) couldn’t bring herself to say. Pictured with Jackie ‘O’ Henderson
Kyle interrupted: ‘What, the bus driver won’t wait now after the rescue yesterday?’
He added: ‘So you could have burned to death. End of story!’
‘No, we’re not going down that path,’ Jessica replied. ‘The thing is, you know what – yes, I’m coming! – it could have been worse, but it wasn’t thanks to Mev.’
Kyle and his co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson then let Jessica end the interview so she could see Allegra off to school.
Scary: The former Studio 10 host was picking up her eldest daughter, Allegra (left) from school in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Thursday afternoon when her black Volvo XC 60 began billowing smoke. Thanks to a quick-thinking bus driver, they escaped before the car exploded
The former Studio 10 host was picking up her eldest daughter from school in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Thursday afternoon when her black Volvo XC 60 began billowing smoke on New South Head Road in Rose Bay.
A passing school bus driver named Mev flagged them down to alert them of the danger and helped the pair escape from the vehicle and flee to safety just as the car burst into flames.
The pair escaped uninjured but were traumatised by the ordeal.
Jessica later assured fans she and Allegra were doing fine at home, and thanked Mev and all the others who helped them.
‘We’re safe and sound! Thank you for all of your kindness and love,’ she posted on Instagram on Thursday night.
‘Thank you to the thoughtful, fast thinking and kind school bus driver Mev who got us out of the car, called the fire brigade, cleared the road and then stayed to drive us home.
‘Thank you to the police and paramedics who are angels. And the tow truck driver! And the mums and dads who stopped to help. We love you.’
Jessica’s husband of 16 years, Channel Nine newsreader Peter Overton, was preparing to present the nightly bulletin when he got the call from a distressed Allegra and dashed home to be with his family.
‘Everyone at work could see that I was absolutely traumatised when I saw my 14-year-old on FaceTime absolutely inconsolable,’ he told 2GB radio on his way home to his family on Thursday night.
‘I saw in the background the car ablaze.
‘Fire and rescue, ambulance and police were there. They’re all OK and they’re home now. There was a real fear that the car could’ve exploded.
‘I want to point out, there’s a lot of heroes we’ve been talking about in the floods and I salute them but I salute that bloke this afternoon who got Allegra and Jessica out and alerted them that smoke was coming out and that they had to get out of the car.’
Peter said the cause of the blaze is still unknown.