Jermaine Pennant "feared for his life" when he was tipped off that a gang were plotting to kidnap him.
Jermaine Pennant
The 'Celebrity Big Brother' star - who earned fortunes as a Premier League footballer - was on holiday in Zante with Jeff Brazier when he was told a group were planning to cut him with a knife and hold him up for ransom, which left him "petrified" that he would be "tortured" or even killed.
In his autobiography, 'Mental: Bad Behaviour, Ugly Truth And The Beautiful Game', he writes: "As mad as it sounds, I was petrified. I feared for my life.
"Yes, someone actually plotted to kidnap me, hold me to ransom and try to get some money for my release.
"I was genuinely worried that I was about to be taken away and tortured."
But Jermaine managed to avoid being taken by remaining in his hotel room for the rest of the holiday.
It's not the first time something controversial has happened when the former Liverpool player has gone away.
The 35-year-old star recently revealed his dog once killed his 'Hollyoaks' actress ex Jennifer Metcalfe's cat while the then-couple were out - and he paid professional cleaners to scrub away the evidence.
Jermaine admitted earlier this month that Jennifer would be "absolutely devastated" to find out that her pricey Persian pet was murdered by his pooch Shadow years ago when they were dating, and insisted it would be the first time she will have heard about her furry friend's death - after he told her the mauled moggy had gone missing at the time.
He said: "I've never said a word in public about this before, because the girl I was seeing, my ex-girlfriend Jennifer Metcalfe, would be absolutely devastated. If she ever reads this, she'll never forgive me.
"Whenever we went away for the weekend, my mate Sam would come round and check on them [their pets]. One day, we were away and I got a phone call from Sam, in a bit of a state.
"He said, 'Shadow's killed the cat. I mean, J, he's absolutely massacred it. That back door onto the patio, it wasn't locked, and he must've forced it open. Shadow must have caught one of the cats on the landing - there's blood everywhere.' "