WEST end star Ruthie Henshall has spoken about her time on I’m a Celebrity after leaving Gwrych Castle last night.

Ruthie – famous for playing the lead roles in hit West End musicals including Chicago – was the latest celebrity to leave the ITV reality show on Sunday night, November 29.

The theatre star entered the castle as a late arrival alongside classical singer Russell Watson and was put straight to work winning meals for her camp mates.

She faced several challenges during her stay at the Abergele castle and lasted almost two full weeks in camp but was eliminated after receiving the fewest public votes.

Reflecting on her time in the castle, the 53-year-old described her stint on the show as ‘brutal’ and a ‘rollercoaster of emotions’ saying her trials and challenges were the hardest thing.

The whole experience lived up to expectation – “and more”, said Ruthie.

Having only watched one series, she researched what to expect but says despite initial fears it was a “far more humbling” result.

She said: “For some reason when you’re watching it you think there will be an easy ride somewhere along the way and I can say with certainty there isn’t. It was vile!

“I don’t think I’d have got many stars if I had to eat anything! The trials are so much harder than they look on TV.”

Henshall also said she was straight on the phone to speak to her teenage daughters after departing the castle – as well as enjoying a comfy bed and a burger!

She said: “I’m feeling a lot fuller and a lot warmer now! I’ve only had a chance so far to catch up with my daughters

“It was a lot harder than I thought it would be because they’re teenagers and I virtually ran away from thinking it would be a joy but I missed them like mad. It was so lovely to talk to them.”

Ruthie also jokes how it must have been a strange experience for her girls seeing their mum being ‘pounded by offal’ on national television.

She previously told our sister title (the Rhyl Journal) how she thinks it is ‘fantastic’ that the series made the move to Wales this year due to coronavirus restrictions stopping the show from taking place in its usual sunny Australian setting.

And, after experiencing a few weeks in the castle, she says that the chosen venue was an ‘absolute genius’ move by producers.

She said: “I think that the whole setting for it was quite beautiful actually. I thought it was a fresh, wonderful approach to the show and it added a whole other level and dimension to an already hard couple of weeks.

“On top of everything else you’ve got the cold as well as being hungry and sitting around a lot with your emotions just going up and down. The cold was quite unbearable sometimes.

Ruthie says she’d gladly watch the series return to Gwrych Castle – just from the comfort of her own warm home in her “slippers and jammies”!

Before going into the castle, she admitted that it was going to feel strange being herself rather than a character on stage and has since said it would be too hard to keep up a persona in that environment.

She said: “It got easier and easier in there as the days went on. You’re in there for so long and you start to forget the cameras are there sometimes.

“Everybody else was being so honest and open that you just end up right with them. You’re having incredible conversations because you’ve just got so much time and you get on a level that very quickly that you wouldn’t normally.”

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues this week every evening on ITV.