Leonardo DiCaprio has shared his terrifying experience with a great white shark.

Wolf of Wall Street, The (2013) star was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show when he described his close encounter with a toothy predator.

He said: "I had a huge fear of sharks, and when I did Blood Diamond in 2006 I actually got stuck in a cage with a great white, which was awesome."

"It was a gigantic great white ... They actually said in 30 years this has never happened, but the tuna kind of got stuck on the top of the cage and the great white leapt out and tried to bite it and went into the cage with me."

"Half of its body was in and out, and I flattened down at the bottom, and it was this far away, and it chomped a few times but I survived it."

Ellen questioned whether he was making it up, but Leo insisted: "No, I'm not, I'm not."

The Great Gatsby actor, 39, said he had been invited out on the expedition by an organisation working to protect sharks, but that it had put him off doing any more with them.

He said: "I don't want to do that any more, but I don't want to discount their work because they're doing great stuff. But it was absolutely terrifying."

Source: Press Release