Sue Holderness was attacked by an alligator whilst filming ‘Only Fools and Horses’.
The actress – who played Marlene Boyce in the classic sitcom throughout its 1981 to 1991 run, along with Christmas specials until the show ended in 2003 – let out a "blood-curdling scream" when the creature appeared at her feet during filming in Miami.
She told the Metro newspaper: "It was absolutely terrifying! Working with animals and children – you are always told not to do it – but we decided to go one further and work with alligators. The one we used for filming was ‘tame’ – in inverted commas!
"I was terribly excited because I’d recently got a video camera so I was standing off-camera, filming and then I realised I had lost the alligator in my viewfinder.
"I looked down and it was about six inches from my feet – it clearly liked the look of my feet. The minder jumped on it but if you wanted a perfect horror movie blood-curdling scream, I gave one then!"
Sue, 70, also admitted it is a "pleasant experience" to watch her younger self in old episodes, although she struggled watching the footage initially.
She said: "I can’t watch it immediately as it’s a form of torture but I can look at it a bit later and now I can watch ‘Only Fools and Horses’ and think, ‘Why didn’t I know I was so gorgeous? Why did I think I was so fat?’
"Having the chance to look back on your younger self is a pleasant experience."
Sue still spends time with John Challis – who played her husband Boycie in the BBC comedy – and revealed an encounter with one fan who thought the pair were married in real life.
She recalled: "We were both in a supermarket shopping once and a lovely old girl came over and said, ‘It’s lovely to see a nice happy couple together after all these years of marriage.’
"John said, ‘Oh, we’re not actually married,’ and she whacked him over the head with her handbag and said, ‘Well you SHOULD be married!’ She thought we were living in sin!"
Sue Holderness attacked by an alligator
