Kerry Katona has said competing on the upcoming series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins was like therapy for her.
The former Atomic Kitten singer said she had not needed professional counselling after taking part in the gruelling Channel 4 programme, but that the show itself had given her “massive closure”.
Other famous faces joining Katona for the series of challenges in the Scottish Inner Hebrides include TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson, singer Alexandra Burke and Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell.
Katona, 40, said: “I haven’t had any therapy from doing the show, I think the show itself for me, was therapy in a really weird way.
“Whether it was physical or when you are being spoken to or shouted at, for me, that was therapy.
“I think I got so much closure from doing that show for my own personal life.”
She also added: “It really opened my eyes up to who I am, and the worth of who I am and about not having to prove anything to anybody.
“So for me, it was huge therapy and massive closure.”
The singer, who won the third series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2004 and was runner-up of series eight of Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, admitted the cold and wet weather was worse for her than the challenges.
She said: “I have bipolar, my moods change with the weather, so when you are in an environment that is just so f***ing miserable, it’s really hard to get your mindset as, ‘Right let’s get up and put these wet clothes back on’.”
The first episode sees the 12 celebrities swim to a remote island after being dropped in the ocean by a speedboat.
Over the course of eight days, the recruits face both physical and mental challenges from the directing staff, including an aerial assault course, used to test how they handle fear, and having to rescue a hostage from a building that has been exposed to CS gas.
Burke, who won the fifth season of The X Factor in 2008, said she had begged her agent to go on the endurance programme and was grateful to be selected.
She said: “I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.”
The singer added: “When the opportunity came around, I cannot tell you how grateful I was, because of how much I’ve just wanted to challenge myself and do something for me.
“It wasn’t for anyone else, it was just for me to see how far I could push myself under those extreme circumstances.”
She added that it was “very challenging” but she thought the group of celebrities chosen made the process easier for her as they “all got along like house on fire”.
Also being put through their paces will be former Love Island contestant Wes Nelson, TV presenter Ore Oduba former footballer Kieron Dyer and Loose Women star Saira Khan.
TV personality Vicky Pattison, singer Jake Quickenden, Paralympic athlete Aled Davies and BMX and track world champion Shanaze Reade will also see if they have what it takes to pass SAS selection.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins returns to Channel 4 on August 29th at 9pm.
