Jeff Hordley was "very anxious" filming the big 'Emmerdale' underwater stunt.
Jeff Hordley
The soap star's alter ego Cain Dingle ends up on an exploding boat after discovering the affair between his wife Moria (Natalie J. Robb) and Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter), and the cast have admitted the high-octane sequence was an intimidating shoot to tackle.
Jeff told RadioTimes.com: "I was very anxious about the underwater sequence to begin with. Once I had acclimatised to the surroundings and being in a water tank it was better.
"I love snorkelling when I'm on holiday but this was a bit different. What made the whole experience more difficult and challenging was doing the whole thing without goggles or a mask, so your visibility goes down to about 15 percent.
"I could literally only just see a hand if it was really near my face, so that was a bit daunting."
His nerves were shared by co-star Natalie, although she explained everyone involved "did a lot of training" and took the right measures to ensure their safety.
She added: "I am not going to lie, Jeff and I were apprehensive ahead of filming underwater. But we did a lot of training in a swimming pool, getting used to the diving regulators and what we needed to do.
"We both had buddies, divers who stay with you to make sure you always have access to air. They were so reassuring and gave us confidence.
"When you're doing it for real the adrenaline builds, and actually I got quite nervous but needed to stay calm.
"That's the trick, staying calm underwater and not to panic. The tank we filmed in was quite deep, really dark and murky and dressed with reeds and rocks."
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