Jake Wood has opened up about his holiday horror when his wife was almost eaten alive by an alligator.
The EastEnders star was on holiday with his wife Alison and their children Buster and Amber when they came face-to-face with the terrifying creature.
Jake, who plays Max Branning, was on a boat in the Flordia Everglades with his family when Alison decided to jump into the water, only to be confronted by the horrifying beast.
Jake, Buster and Amber were left looking on in horror as the alligator began heading for Alison, reports the Daily Star .
They screamed for her to climb back into the boat as their trip almost turned into tragedy.
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Jake, 46, said: "I almost lost my wife to an alligator in Florida."
Jake said when he first saw the alligator it was 15 feet away from his wife, but that he panicked when he saw it suddenly coming towards her.
The star said: "So I’m looking at it and thinking, 'It’s got to be a log or something. Got to be a log'. All of a sudden it f***ing goes down and I f***ing see an eye. All the kids are screaming, I’m screaming, ‘Get back in the boat!’
"As soon as an alligator goes underwater you don’t know where it is, it was horrible. It was only about 15 feet away."
Jake said he and his loved ones only realised how lucky they had been when they returned to the shop they'd hired the boat from and shared their story.
A shocked staff member told them he'd never go in the water, describing the alligator they'd encountered as a "maneater".
The terrifying incident happened in 2014, but Jake says it's something that will always stay with his children.
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"Good story," he added. "Although it did scar the kids for life."
Jake admitted just thinking about the encounter now makes him "squiffy".
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