Danielle Lloyd feels like a new person after her stint on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.

The glamour model defied expectations to finish third on the latest season of the popular Channel 4 programme, which sees stars attempt the notoriously difficult SAS selection test. The 39-year-old had stepped away from the public eye to concentrate on raising her five children and was apprehensive about whether she should return to the spotlight to appear on the show.

She told the ECHO in an exclusive interview: "It was a difficult decision because I knew I would have to leave the kids but I loved the show. I've known people who have gone on it before like Jennifer Ellison. I spoke to her and she said 'you will love it'."

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Danielle was initially sceptical about how much she would enjoy the challenge - but is now thrilled she listened to the former Brookside star's advice and took the plunge to do the show. She said: "It just changes you as a person.

"When you become a mum, you get lost in terms of just being a mum. I literally wake up everyday, make packed lunches and take the kids to school. After school, I'm doing cooking, cleaning, taking them to football. I'm literally just a full time servant so I felt like it was just the right time to do something for me for once."

Danielle was sipping cocktails on a family holiday in Dubai when she committed to doing the show and wondered what she had let herself in for as she had just two weeks to prepare before heading off for the gruelling challenge. She said: "I thought 'oh my God, I don't know what I'm going to do here.'

"I came home and I just went for a walk with the baby pushing the pushchair. I put a few bricks in a rucksack thinking that was going to help me but it never. When I put the real bag on in SAS, I nearly fell backwards, it was that heavy."

Danielle quickly got to grips with the recruitment programme and was one of the show's standout performers as she progressed all the way to the final when she finished behind Gareth Gates and disgraced former MP, Matt Hancock. The ex health secretary's addition to the show proved to be controversial but Danielle said you don't have time to focus on life away from the recruitment process once you are thrust into the challenge.

She said: "I don't really follow politics that much but obviously I knew he had let a lot of people down through covid." She added: "When you're in there, you literally have to take people as you find them there and you don't have time to think about people's past."

Danielle admitted she shocked herself with how well she fared in the show as she even finished ahead of the Olympic track and field athlete, Perri Shakes-Drayton. Danielle said she needn't have worried about the short preparation time as being a mum proved to be the ideal training process for the programme.

She added: "I've been through five childbirths so nothing compares to that. I feel like having kids you've definitely got to be resilient."

The former Miss England is also a proud Liverpudlian and said the values she has inherited from the city also gave her the strength to push through. She added: "I feel like all Scouse girls are really strong minded and know what we want.

"I don't think we give up very easily. I don't know many Scouse girls that would back down to any of those challenges. Whenever we have challenges put in front of us, we'll always just crack on and get on with it."

It was not all plain sailing for Danielle as she said the tough challenges she endured had a physical impact as she had trench foot after the show finished. She said "All the skin was being eaten away. It was disgusting.

"I was black and blue head to toe. I did get muscles in places I didn't know existed and I did get fitter afterwards so there were pluses and minuses."

Although the show is physically taxing, Danielle said the emotional toll was the most difficult part about competing on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. She said: "Missing my kids was one of the hardest things. I'd cry most days because I'd miss them so much."

Danielle cited the interrogation process as the hardest challenge she had to complete and she earned praise in this segment as she bravely opened up about a past abusive relationship. The glamour model said the show has been like therapy for her and is proud about what she has proven to herself and her family.

She added: "It just really helped me realise how strong I am as a person. I feel like I've come so far in life. I knew I was strong minded but it's made me realise that anyone can do anything. I'm not a fitness freak who can run miles but my mind took over and got me through every single challenge each day. That's what I want to take from it.

"I want my kids to take from it that if you put your mind to anything then you can achieve everything." Danielle's new found mindset was put to the ultimate test after the show finished filming when she suffered a terrifying health scare as she started to display cancerous symptoms and feared the worst.

She said: "I've went through a few months of worrying and thinking that I had cancer. I lay there in bed crying and thinking I don't want to leave my kids.

"The thought of it was horrendous, but the good news is that it wasn't cancerous." Although Danielle was relieved to discover it wasn't cancer, she still had to process serious news as she was diagnosed with severe endometriosis, which the NHS describes as "a long-term condition that can have a significant impact on your life".

Danielle will undergo an operation in the new year to remove her womb, which sadly means she will not be able to have any more children, but she is using her strong mindset to focus on the positives as she knows it could have been a lot of worse. She said: "It would be selfish for me to say I'm devastated because I've got five beautiful healthy kids.

"I do look at babies and think 'I could have another one' but five is enough. I'll have to wait for my grandkids." She added: "If someone said you're either going to have cancer or you've got to have your womb out, you'd obviously pick the latter because being alive and seeing your kids grow up is the most important thing."

Danielle is now happier than ever as she enjoys life with her husband Michael and her five kids. The model is looking forward to the future as she prepares to celebrate a special milestone when she turns 40 next month.

She said: "It's so scary. I was speaking to my mate about it yesterday and we were saying 'how are we 40, I can't believe it's happened'. But it's just another number to me at the end of the day.

"Time literally flies when you have kids. It seems to go double fast. I'm not going to have a party, I'm just trying to let it slide and just pretend it's not happening." She laughed: "It's not happening and I'm staying 39 forever."

Danielle said being a mum remains her main priority but did not rule out any future TV appearances now she has returned to the limelight. She said: "Something like Dancing On Ice would be great but you have to put a lot of time and effort into the experience so it would depend on if that would work for me and the kids."

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