Joe Wilkinson's chilling six-word response to spotting 'Beast of Bodmin' on walk

Comedian Joe Wilkinson has claimed he saw the Beast of Bodmin during a countryside walk with his wife, although Petra Exton apparently did not see the large black leopard

Comedian Joe Wilkinson has revealed a spine-tingling encounter with a mysterious big cat, similar to the infamous Beast of Bodmin, while on a walk with his wife Petra Exton in the countryside.

The 49 year old 8 Out of 10 Cats star shared his eerie experience on his 'My Mate's a Footballer' podcast with Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford, where he claimed to have spotted a massive feline creature roaming across a moor in Dorset.

When Bamford brought up the topic of British big cats, Joe exclaimed: "I've seen one! " and added: "I have, genuinely, cross my heart. In Dorset. The Beast of Bodmin or something, it's called."

Although the Beast of Bodmin is said to haunt north Cornwall, it's possible that Joe encountered the Beast of West Dorset, which has been reported multiple times near Bridport.

Joe described the encounter: "We were on a country walk and this thing, which looked like a big dog or something in the distance, was walking over the brow of a hill. But it was walking like a cat, you know the way their hips swing.", reports Cornwall Live.

"I thought, 'What the effing hell is that! ? ' as it went over the hill. I was going, 'What the hell is that! ' and Petra is just like, 'huh? ', and didn't see it."

"Anyway, I got back to the pub and I was talking about it. Someone overheard and said, 'Did you see the Beast? '. And I was like, 'Yeah, I have! Well, I think I have! '."

Joe Wilkinson, known for his role in Sex Education, has been sharing his encounter with a large cat for years, often met with scepticism.

He told football legend Bamford: "Every time I tell this story, Petra says that I'm talking b*llocks. She ruins the story. But it seriously happened. And this has been going on for 25 years! I did. I did see it."

Backing Joe's experiences is Select Car Leasing, a UK vehicle lease company, which has shown interest due to numerous similar claims by drivers who report sightings of such animals while on the road.

Graham Conway, Managing Director of Select, questions the phenomenon, stating: "We're not supposed to have leopards or pumas in the UK - so why do so many people, like Joe Wilkinson, keep seeing them? Notably, Joe Wilkinson isn't alone in his large cat sighting.

Clare Balding

Celebrated TV presenter Clare Balding also claimed to have seen an 'enormous' big cat in 2014 during her work on the BBC Radio 4 show 'The Ramblings' near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. She was overheard saying: "Gosh. We've walked out on to the road and turned left and sitting in the middle of the road ahead of us was the most enormous black cat.

"Honestly, I thought it was a panther. I mean it was really big, like a dog size.

"I saw it really clearly and it went into the woods and disappeared. It just sloped, it didn't scuttle, and just walked across the road and disappeared into the woods."

Charlotte Jackson Coleman

Sky Sports presenter and actress Coleman, 46, captured footage of what she believed to be a large feline while walking her dogs near Winchester, Hampshire. Last year, Coleman remarked: "It was quite large. The pattern and colour of the coat was not like one I had seen on a cat before.

"As we got closer, I realised how much bigger it was than other cats - and it had no collar. "

Helena Worthington

Gogglebox star Worthington, 41, believes she spotted a large cat from a train en route to Todmorden in West Yorkshire. She shared on the Channel 4 programme: "On the train, going to Todmorden.

"I was on my own and there was a giant black cat walking across a field. I had to ring a friend and say, 'You'll never guess what I've seen'."