ACTRESS Ruthie Henshall endured three rounds of positively gruesome tasks as she made her debut on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

The West End icon, who has performed in hit musicals such as Cats, Les Miserables, Chicago and Billy Elliot, entered the camp on Wednesday night with classical singer Russell Watson.

Hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly initially told the group they would all be taking part in the challenge, but soon revealed they had been summoned to the trial room at Gwrych Castle, in North Wales, to watch the newcomers make their debut.

On arrival, the ten original contestants looked on as the pair were covered in rotten tomatoes and slime in a bid to win coveted stars, and therefore dinner, for their future camp mates.

Ruthie, who used to live in Manningtree, first faced the Laughing Stocks challenge where she was placed in stocks and covered in 225kg of rotten tomatoes as she read the first part of a joke.

Watson was tasked with searching through barrels of slime, maggots, rotten vegetables and fish guts to find the punchline.

The final part of the challenge was called Critters In Ya Knickers and saw the pair don oversized clear trousers which were then filled with crickets and cockroaches.

Both then had to dance to famous songs, while their fellow camp mates attempted to guess the titles, with tracks including Single Ladies by Beyonce, Gangnam Style by Psy and Proud Mary originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The pair managed to win 11 out of 12 stars.

Ahead of meeting the camp mates Ruthie said: “I’m absolutely thrilled we got 11 stars.

“I’m so excited to get into the castle and really look forward to saying hello to everyone and getting to know them.”

However, the new arrivals were initially met with a mixed reaction.

Vernon Kay said: “I’ve got mixed emotions at the moment. It moves the dimensions. It moves the dynamics about slightly. I would be genuinely upset if this dynamic changes.”

But after meeting everyone she said: “As soon as Russell and I walked in, the welcome was just… it was wonderful, it was fantastic.”

Later that evening, their efforts were rewarded with a dinner of ox tail.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! continues on ITV nightly.