ARCHIVE / ALREADY DISTRIBUTED 26/07/17: Ex-Eastenders star Paul Nicholls, 38, recounts his emotional rescue from a waterfall in Koh Samui, Thailand, after he survived for three days with a smashed kneecap and bruised ribs.

Speaking with hospital staff and a reporter, the actor thanked rescuers and police for finding him after he fell on wet rocks on survived by drinking water from a stream.

With his leg in a brace, he said: ''There was three police officers and two or three rescue guys and as soon as I saw them I burst into tears because I knew that I was safe.''

Paul wiped away tears as he said he was ''overwhelmed'' by the response of the rescue operation.

The former heartthrob, who had been travelling, set the record straight over hospital costs after confusion about his treatment - and admitted he did not have travel insurance.

Paul left the Koh Samui Hospital the next day and boarded a plane from Bangkok to London Heathrow,