Phina goes back to the jungle - Feb 10 2007
I’m A Celebrity star Phina Oruche is apparently heading back to the jungle for her new role in an American TV series.

The former Footballers’ Wives star, 31, has bagged a leading role in The Unit, a hit US show about secret agents and spies, the Daily Star reports.

Phina, who flew back to Los Angeles after the Australian reality TV show last year, is due to start filming the show in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea.

She told the paper: "I’m looking forward to going back to the jungle and am excited about The Unit.

"This time, though, I will be the queen of the jungle - because I’m playing a chieftain of a village.

"Things have gone really well for me since I returned to Los Angeles. I have done only three auditions and through those I got the part in The Unit and am in talks for two films that also go to exotic locations.

"I feel my return to La La land has really been worth it."

The Unit, written by David Mamet, stars 24’s Dennis Haysbert and Scrubs star Scott Foley.

Phina talks of ’jungle bribes’ - Nov 28 2006
Evicted I’m A Celebrity... star Phina Oruche has reportedly claimed show bosses bribed contestants with food treats in a bid to spice up the show.

The Footballers’ Wives actress said they had been offered extra grub to reveal their secrets.

"They were always trying to bribe us with personal things. Every night they would offer us a chocolate brownie or a coffee if we told all," she is quoted by the Daily Star as saying.

"They’d say, ’talk about the highs and lows of your career, give us three stories and you can have a scone’. Only yesterday they said, ’have an arm-wrestling contest and we’ll give you a cup of coffee’.

"The bribes got cheaper and cheaper. They obviously thought the show was bit too boring and tried to spice it up a bit, but none of us would fall for that trick."

The 31-year-old, who was evicted on Monday, said if she had known what life in the outback entailed she may have thought twice about signing up.

"I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into," she admitted.

"Had I known, maybe I wouldn’t have done it. The only good thing to have come out of it is that I have raised money for charity."

Phina gets the red card - Nov 28 2006
Former Footballers’ Wives star Phina Oruche became the fifth contestant to leave the jungle after being voted off I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

She lost out in the public vote to former BBC newsreader Jan Leeming.

Phina told Ant and Dec she had made her mark and was now glad to be gone.

She said the experience had been "bizarre" and admitted that it had been harder than she expected.

"If I had known what I was in for I might have side-stepped it."

And she said the toughest part was knowing she bore the responsibility for all the others when attempting the Bushtucker Trials.

During her time on the show, the actress had a number of bust-ups with other contestants, famously telling Jan to "take the pole from out of your ass".