EASTENDERS’ Jacqueline Jossa believes her family was saved from armed intruders by a guardian angel.
The 31-year-old actress woke to see two men in balaclavas rifling through her belongings.
She was frozen by fear as they bagged jewels and cash worth £20,000 from the villa in Marbella, Spain.
Jacqueline said she paused then came face-to-face with one raider who fled.
She reckons the brief delay saved their lives, with footage revealing one had a weapon.
Lauren Branning star Jacqueline said: “I truly believe in guardian angels.
“Something kept me from going out straightaway.
“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.”
She immediately thought of her daughters, Ella, nine, five-year-old Mia, and her reality star husband Dan Osborne’s son Teddy, ten.
Among the items stolen was her £7,000 diamond engagement ring and a Cartier bracelet and ring.
They even pinched Mia’s money from the tooth fairy.
Jacqueline added: “I could wail and cry about the ring, and obviously I am gutted about it.
“But I believe in a higher power.”
She claimed she had a “weird gut feeling” in the hours before the burglary.
And she revealed the children had asked to sleep downstairs before husband Dan, 33, had a change of heart.
She said: “We let the kids stay up later to watch a film after dinner.
“They asked if they could sleep in the room downstairs.
“Luckily, Dan changed his mind and said everyone just sleep upstairs all on one level.
“He said, ‘I don’t like the thought of you being down here on your own’.
“Thank God, that happened.”
Jacqueline said she was woken by something metal dropping on the marble floor.
She noticed the bedroom door was wide open and a torch shining in the darkness.
JACQUELINE shot to fame aged 17 in 2010 when she took over as Lauren Branning on EastEnders.
At the National Television Awards in 2012, she won a Best Newcomer gong for her hard-hitting storylines.
It was announced in 2017 that Jacqueline would be leaving Albert Square.
The same year, she married former Towie star Dan Osborne, with whom she has two daughters.
She was then crowned I’m A Celebrity’s Queen of the Jungle in 2019.
On New Year’s Day, she made a long-awaited return to the EastEnders as Lauren came back to Walford after a six-year absence.
Jacqueline has also dabbled in fashion, producing her own clothing ranges.
Walking out of the room, she saw the masked man.
She said: “I was in shock.
“So I followed him and peered over the stairs just to make sure I had seen it properly.
“Then I could hear a kerfuffle, like the men were trying to get out of the house.
“So I instantly ran to wake Dan.
“He grabbed a cue from the pool table.
“There wasn’t much else he could do.”
The men legged it to a getaway car and sped off.
Police in Malaga are investigating and believe a professional gang was responsible.
