Name: Phina Oruche

Age: 31

Profession: Actress (Liberty Baker in ITV’s Footballers’ Wives), writer

Celebrity Supporters: Sinitta, Cast of Footballers’ Wives and The Bill

Fears and Phobias: Rodents, heights, Pete Burns, incessant talking

Special Skills: Leading, running, level-headedness, spirituality

Best known for her portrayal of glossy, drug-taking, bi-sexual diva, Liberty Baker, in Footballers’ Wives, stunning actress Phina Oruche is keen to prove that there is much more to her than bling and bitchiness.

“I’m definitely different!� she points out with a laugh. “It’s not good for people to see me in a limited, super-modelly way. I’m real – I laugh, I’m stupid, I’m strong, I’m silent, I’m broody, moody and all kinds of things. I’m not just a glossy diva in a mini skirt.�

Born and raised on the ‘tough streets of Toxteth’, in Liverpool and having lived in the strange bubble of Hollywood for over 10 years, Phina isn’t phased by the jungle and predicts that she won’t have much time for those that struggle in group tasks.

“I hope I’ll be leader because otherwise I’ll have to play by somebody else’s rules. So I’ll set the tone,� she asserts.

“It’s not that I don’t have sympathy but I think I came from a hard place, so it’s kind of like pull up your boot straps chick and get on with it. I can’t phaff, I just need to get on with things.

“In the last series Elaine Lordan couldn’t make it across the bridge [on the walk into the jungle] and there was someone waiting behind her to go. If that was me I’d go off my nut. It’s one of those instances that would make me look like a pig to the world. I think it’d bring out the worst in me actually.â€?

Despite her best efforts, Phina confesses that she isn’t that good a listener.

“I’m very black and white with things – I can be very clipped. I’m not the best listener. I’m a leader so sometimes it comes across as bossy.�

In addition to longwinded conversation from the other celebrities, there is one thing that would make Phina throw a tantrum of Liberty Baker proportions in the jungle:

“A rodent could actually make me say the line “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me out Of Here!

“A rodent at the wrong time could definitely do it. In California a rodent came under my floorboards and I actually moved out.â€?

A practising Christian, Phina is keen to see how she will cope without her home comforts, and discover something new about herself.

“A lot of my confidence comes from being put together nicely and, you know, wearing nice clothes and taking care of myself. Presenting myself as best as I can.

“So probably you’re gonna see me melt down on national television. You know, when I don’t have the straighteners and the things and the gloss. Who are you when you ain’t got no lip gloss?

There is one celebrity that she definitely wouldn’t want to see in camp.

“I wouldn’t like Pete Burns or Simon Cowell to be there because they are both acid, strong males that put people down harshly. I think they’d bring out the worst in me.

“However as I’ve got older I’ve become a bit more canny with confrontation. When I was younger I definitely would’ve screamed back but now I apply the saying ‘Don’t go to war where there’s no spoils’.

“Having said that, I might be starving, in my shorts with a camera up my ass with people I don’t know. So I might be a little stressed!�

Courtesy Of ITV