Jennifer Ellison ended up in hospital after a series of injuries on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
She broke two ribs, developed an infection in her lung and damaged her spleen during filming for the Channel 4 series in Jordan.
Former Brookside star Jennifer, 39, said: “After I jumped from a helicopter, I hit my ribs and then I could feel a pain in my side.
READ MORE: Strictly’s Maisie Smith admits hair was falling out in ‘clumps’ on Celebrity SAS
“When I got back to the UK it was getting worse, so I went to A&E.
“They told me, ‘You’ve got broken ribs, blood in your lung and a bleeding spleen’. The infection in my lung was really nasty.”
Jennifer was kept in hospital for three days and given vital intravenous antibiotics so she wouldn’t need an operation.
She added: “It was really quite bad.”
Jennifer then had to endure months of agonising recovery.
She said: “It was really painful for a very long time. I was sitting in bed laid flat.
“I couldn’t take a deep breath, so I had to blow into a machine.”
Despite her ordeal, Jennifer is glad she did the show.
She said: “The only way I can describe this show is inhumane. There were times when I worried about dying.
“I was thinking ‘What they’re doing to us cannot be legal’.
“It was the worst pain imaginable.
“But the reward was life-changing. It’s really given me a kick up the backside to sort myself out, so it was worth it for me.
“I’d definitely recommend it.”
Jennifer is now a regular at the gym and has shed a whopping five stone.
She said: “I was in a rut before the show. I gained so much weight. But now I feel like a new woman.”
The new series, also starring former athlete Fatima Whitbread and EastEnders ’ Maisie Smith and Strictly’s AJ Pritchard, starts tonight at 9pm. on Channel 4.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk