JAMES BOND star Pierce Brosnan has given up showing off his fire-eating skills, after a performance on The Muppets left a very sour taste in his mouth.

The Irish screen star picked up his fire-eating talents when he was sharpening his acting skills, and decided to give up on doing it after appearing on the children's show in 1996 left him with a damaged mouth.

He says, "The last time I did the fire-eating was on The Muppets. It was just after GOLDENEYE. They called up and they said, 'Do you sing? Do you dance?' I said, 'No, not really. But I do a fire-eating act - well, I used to.' They said, 'Oh great! Wonderful!'

"The last segment of the show was me fire-eating. I made my own brand - I had the kerosene, I was in the tuxedo. The prop guy was there and he said, 'This (other) stuff is great. It doesn't taste of anything, you don't smell it.' I went, 'This is good. I'll try this.'

"It was like rocket fuel. I blew it, it all came back into my mouth and my mouth blew up. I had blisters for the rest of the show."