WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
Danielle Lloyd on how she faced her fears by taking on the greatest challenge of her life
After the last few years of school runs and nappy changes, Danielle Lloyd wanted some me-time. But instead of a holiday, she decided to tackle Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. The model joins stars such as
Hollyoaks’ Kirsty-leigh Porter, presenter and former glamour model Melinda Messenger and politician Matt Hancock in the Vietnamese jungle in the latest series of the Channel 4 show.
“I wanted to do something for me because I’m so busy as a mum,” she says.
Danielle, 39, who has three sons with her footballer ex Jamie O’hara and a son and daughter with husband Michael O’neill, wanted to prove her strength, but was homesick during the gruelling expedition.
“I cried myself to sleep most nights,” she says. “I missed them so much. My little girl was only 10 months old.”
Luckily, she had her fellow recruits to lean on when the wet conditions and exhausting challenges took their toll.
“We made good friendships. I got on well with Liberty X’s Michelle Heaton, TOWIE’S Amber Turner and Love Island’s Montana Brown. We bonded,” she says. “I slept next to rugby player Gareth Thomas and he made me laugh every night.”
From balancing on a wire to facing brutal interrogations, Danielle was forced to confront her fears and dreaded having to wear a hood when being taken between locations.
“I hate that feeling of not being in control,” she says. “I’m claustrophobic, but it got a little bit easier as time went on. I’ve got a fear of heights and I conquered that, but it was really tough.”
While Danielle faced her phobias, she left the camp covered in bruises and with trench foot. “I was black and blue all over from climbing mountains and stuff like that.”
But the former Celebrity Big Brother star left the show a different, “more positive” person. “I feel really strong now, like I can conquer the world,” she says, smiling.