Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Former Strictly star Chelsee Healey on her upcoming adventure with Bear Grylls

Chelsee Healey (ITV)
Chelsee Healey (ITV)

Mission Survive, the series that throws a group of celebs into the wild to see if they can cope, is back for a new run this week.

But former Waterloo Road and Strictly star Chelsee has told The Sunday Post she worried she’d made the wrong choice – and was even anxious about how she’d look with her hair wet.

“I wish I’d had a bit of a clearer thought and said I couldn’t do it when they asked,” laughed Chelsee.

“I’m always up for a challenge and I’ve never done anything like this before.

“I thought it’d be a fantastic experience to learn things with Bear Grylls.

“I knew the producer from when I did Strictly and she knew I had a bit of personality and was a bit clumsy, which seemed ideal for this.

“I put it to the back of my mind until we arrived and it really hit me and I thought: ‘What on earth have I let myself in for?’”

Chelsee had a fair idea what was in store as she did her homework by viewing the previous series.

Fellow celebs Michelle Collins, Jason Gardiner, Neil Morrissey, Alex Scott, Samantha Barks and Stuart Pearce were also given the watching brief.

They saw the class of 2015 nearly drowned by relentless rain, although Chelsee took some inspiration from the surprising success of the winner, model Vogue Williams.

From somewhat shaky beginnings she was transformed into an all-action Lara Croft-type figure.

Any thoughts that Chelsee and her new pals might get a cushy start on arrival in South Africa were dashed when they found themselves immediately under canvas for several nights rather than a plush hotel.

“I got on with everyone, but I’m so glad Michelle was there,” admits Chelsee.

“I’m a real mummy’s girl and I felt better she was a mother figure and I knew she’d look after me.

“But we didn’t see Bear until the day it started and my nerves were shot.

“Some of the others were really active and had been sports stars or dancers and I kind of felt I was doomed from the start.”

With her girly head on, Chelsee was initially worried not about the terrors of the challenges facing her, but that she didn’t want a river dip to get her hair wet.

“I just thought if I got soaked on the first day then I was going to look a mess for the rest of the time,” she laughs.

“I actually didn’t mind most of what we were asked to do.

“I loved coming down from the helicopter and the abseiling was great fun – but being asked to drink your own urine is as horrible as you’d imagine.”

Chelsee was one of the success stories of Strictly in 2011, getting to the final with pro partner Pasha Kovalev and just losing out to Harry Judd.

Other than one anxious moment when a wardrobe malfunction almost saw her bare all, it was such a joyful experience she still has withdrawal pangs.

“I get upset watching it now because I just wish I could do it again. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

“The standard seems to get better and better.

“The celebs last year were so good I think I’d have been first out.”

Chelsee has fond memories of Scotland from her days filming Waterloo Road in Greenock.

She’s recently finished filming Casualty and she’s looking forward to getting her teeth into some more meaty roles.

“I love telly dramas and I can’t wait to do some more,” she adds.

“And it would be fantastic to do a soap.

“Coronation Street’s on my doorstep and that would be my dream job.

“If they came calling, trust me they wouldn’t have to ask twice.

“I’d say yes in a heartbeat.”

Bear Grylls: Mission Survive, ITV, Thursday, 9pm.


READ MORE

Gogglebox’s Tapper family reveal how they became stars in their own living room

Incredibly happy and the lurid headlines are gone for ever – Denise Welch is now playing it by the book