Lucy Pargeter enters THE JUNGLE!

Our very own Chas Dingle is trading in the Woolpack for the outback...

Lucy Pargeter will be on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Lucy, who plays Chas Dingle, reveals she always makes big decisions in her life in a split second.

And so when the offer of a place in the jungle was made, she accepted immediately – a move that has prompted her to question ‘why?’.

“I am bricking myself now about going into the jungle,” admits Lucy.

“You start thinking ‘Why am I doing it? Why am I putting myself through it?’

“Now the nights are getting cosy, the fire is on and I am with my daughter, Lola, and Rudi, I keep saying ‘why?’

“I do tend to make all my decisions in life on the spur of the moment. I don’t really think about it.

“But at the same time, there comes a time where it’s good to make myself do something I would not normally do. I am 36, I don’t challenge myself, I don’t do anything out of the ordinary. I am very happy with the routine of my life I have got.”

Asked what she is most looking forward to and Lucy jokingly replies: “Afterwards!” before adding: “I love the show. I watch it and laugh at people and the awful things they have to do. And now they are going to laugh at me. But hey, as long as I am making people laugh and getting a few personal goals from it, it’s only a few weeks out of your life!”

Describing herself as a ‘very good listener”, she hopes to be a shoulder to cry on for other celebrities. “I am quite good if someone is feeling down,” Lucy says. “Hopefully I can spur them on and encourage people to do stuff.

“There is nothing I am really petrified of as a lot of it is mind over matter. You have not got any choice and you have to do it. But I can’t sit still for five minutes and I don’t do well with boredom.

I will definitely be trying to keep myself occupied, whether it is collecting the logs, cooking or even cleaning.”

Lack of food, she chuckles, won’t be an issue. “I am an actress and television can put ten pounds on you,” she explains. “People come up and tell me ‘you look fatter on TV’ and so maybe if I lose a few pounds, I will look lighter in this! I am not bothered. Food is neither here or there for me.”

So will the attractive star be stripping down to a bikini? She admits she is packing three sets, including one she has borrowed from her fellow Emmerdale co-star, Zoe Henry (who plays Rhona Goskirk), but she admits she isn’t quite sure if she will have the courage or not to wear them.

“I have chosen three, but not that anybody will see them,” she says, smiling as she does. “I will probably wear a modesty smock constantly. Maybe it will be alright after lack of food. When the ribs start showing, I might put them on then!

“Zoe Henry has given me one to wear. I have warned her that it will be covered in fish guts but I think she is more excited to see her bikini in the jungle than she is me!”

Her co-stars are particularly looking forward to having a laugh at Lucy’s expense, admits the gregarious star. “They think it is hilarious,” she adds. “They are looking forward to having a big laugh!”

And whilst Lucy is determined to embrace jungle life, she admits she is going to miss her partner, Rudi, daughter, Lola and home comforts terribly. “I am going to miss my family and my home a lot,” says the 36-year-old. “I am a home girl. I like my home comforts. I like being comfortable.”

She also thinks it will be surreal being herself on television rather than playing a character. “I have always been able to hide behind my character,” she says. “People will see me as me which is weird to get your head around. That is the most worrying part really. I am most scared of the fear of people not liking you. But I want to give everything a go. The challenges are not there for you to enjoy. They are there to cause you grief and make people laugh!”

As for whether her stint in the jungle heralds a different career direction, Lucy insists definitely not. “I am not doing it for those reasons,” she adds. “I have got a job and I am not doing it to further my career. When I come out of the show, I will go back to Emmerdale. For me, it’s more of a personal challenge.”