Emily Atack was "skint" and "bored" before she took part in ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’.
The 29-year-old actress admitted she had reached a "crisis" point in her life, having seen her career flounder, her five-year relationship with Jack Vacher come to an end and struggling with her body image, so decided to sign up for the show last year.
She said: "I’d reached a point in my life where everything came to a crossroads and I was having a bit of a quarter-life crisis. I was just very lost. I didn’t really know what I wanted from life and everything was at a standstill.
"I got really bored of sitting around waiting for work or for the next movie to come along that only 100 people would see. I got bored of being skint, of twiddling my thumbs, wondering how to take my life to the next stage. I was frustrated."
And Emily – who was runner-up to Harry Redknapp – admitted appearing on the show was the "best thing" she could have done as she’s now more secure in herself and has been inundated with offers of work.
She told Fabulous magazine: "I’ve made some stupid decisions both in work and in my personal life. But this was the best, hands down. It flipped everything on its head, I was doing something wild and showing people who I am as a person."
The actress shot to fame portraying Charlotte Hinchcliffe in ‘The Inbetweeners’ and though she thinks she was "typecast" by the sit-com, she doesn’t think she should regard that as a bad thing.
She said: "When you have a big hit at such a young age, it can be difficult. ‘The Inbetweeners’ was so huge so quickly, I was catapulted into that. So I guess yes, I was typecast.
"But I can’t look at that negatively or say I wish it hadn’t been so successful. If I’m typecast because the show was wonderful and everyone loved it, then so be it. It means you have to graft slightly harder and do things your own way, which is healthy and good.
"But I’ve always had so many ideas and I’ve been banging on this door for so long trying to get in. Yet the door was only ever slightly opening, without ever letting me completely in.
"I felt like I was plodding along but not really getting anywhere, so I thought: ‘I’ve got to start making big s**t happen. Like, now.’"
Emily Atack reached low point before jungle
