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Jacqueline Jossa has revealed that she believes her family were saved by a ‘guardian angel’ during a recent horror raid which saw £20,000 worth of jewellery and money stolen.
The EastEnders actress, 31, and her husband Dan Osbourne, 33, and their daughters Ella, nine and Mia and Dan’s son Teddy, 10, were staying in Marbella when the robbery took place in their villa.
Jacqueline awoke to discover two masked men in their accommodation in the early hours of last Monday, before discovering what was missing when they ran off.
And now she has told how she was frozen by fear after waking up and had to pause and take a second to gather herself before coming face-to-face with one raider who fled.
She thinks that the short delay in her reaction saved her and her family’s lives – after footage appeared to show that one had a weapon.
Jacqueline Jossa has revealed that she believes her family were saved by a ‘guardian angel’ during a recent horror raid which saw £20,000 worth of jewellery and money stolen
The EastEnders actress, 31, and her husband Dan Osbourne, 33, and their daughters Ella, nine and Mia and Dan’s son Teddy, 10, were staying in Marbella when the robbery took place in their villa
Jacqueline told The Sun: ‘I truly believe in guardian angels. Something kept me from going out straight away. Had I done I could have been blocking his way.
‘He would have had to move around me, push me downstairs or use a weapon.
‘We saw it on CCTV. There was something very long and sharp in his hand.’
The soap star also insisted in the interview that she only cares about the sentimental items which were stolen from them.
This included her engagement ring from Dan, which cost £7,000 ten years ago, and the tooth fairy money they had given their daughter Ella on the holiday.
The soap star and Dan have chosen not to reveal the truth to their young family and instead replaced the money stolen from Mia, with the youngster oblivious about what happened with her tooth fairy cash.
During the interview, Jacqueline has recalled the heart-stopping moment she thought her children had been kidnapped as she stumbled across the thieves in the middle of the night.
The star went onto say that after realising they were being robbed, she immediately woke her husband Dan, who ran downstairs and grabbed snooker cue to protect his family.
Jacqueline awoke to discover two masked men in their accommodation in the early hours of last Monday, before discovering what was missing when they ran off
And now she has told how she was frozen by fear after waking up and had to pause and take a second to gather herself before coming face-to-face with one raider who fled
However, the thieves had already ran off after spotting Jacqueline and escaped through the back door before being driven off in a waiting getaway car.
The actress then ‘frantically ran’ to check on her children to make sure they were safe and despite seeing them tucked up in their beds, she had to touch them to ‘reassure’ herself they were there.
The star added that she was ‘grateful’ that she was the one to stumble across the robbers, because if one of the children had seen the masked men, they may have been ‘scarred for life’, with Jacqueline adding that she’s probably scarred herself.
Jacqueline, who plays Lauren Branning in the BBC soap, had been documenting her holiday for her Instagram followers, with the trip seeing them travel with their extended families along with daughters and Dan’s son Teddy.
While she was also seen enjoying a beach day in Marbella with her girls amid their two-week getaway in the sun.
Spanish police are reported to be investigating the raid, while a vehicle belonging to a security firm has been seen outside the villa.
Along with the engagement ring, the thugs are reported to have snatched handbags and wads of cash plucked from their kids’ backpacks.
On Tuesday, Jaqueline and Dan looked visibly distressed as they left a Marbella police station after filing a report.
The couple leaned on each other for support, with Dan wrapping a protective arm around his wife.
The couple got married in 2017 – shortly before her exit from the soap was confirmed by EastEnders bosses.
She then briefly returned to the show at the end of 2022 for the funeral of Dot Cotton following the death of actress June Brown earlier that year, before making a permanent return in October last year.
She thinks that the short delay in her reaction saved her and her family’s lives – after footage appeared to show that one had a weapon
The robbery is the latest in a string of high-profile burglaries and muggings with Nick Grimshaw and his mother reportedly gassed at their rented Ibiza villa last week (Pictured in London in February 2017)
The high-profile robbery comes after another BBC star, former Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw, was targeted by robbers who allegedly gassed him and his 81-year-old mother Eileen in their rented Ibiza villa in order to steal from the pair.
The DJ was celebrating his 40th birthday with his family when the property was targeted by the gang who have hit a number of villas occupied by wealthy tourists over the last year.
Nick and his mum Eileen were sedated after the gang pumped a sedative gas into the property where the star was sleeping – and waited for it to take effect before they broke in wearing hazmat suits and turned the villa over.
No one is said to have been hurt in the incident, although it is believed some items were stolen in the raid.