She said: “I knew for some time that Lucy was going into the jungle.

“It was a hard decision for her to make, leaving Bessie.

“I have always been proud of Lucy.” The actress lost out to TV chef Gino D’Acampo and former glamour model and singer Samantha Fox in Monday’s public eviction vote.

Waiting to greet her when she emerged from the jungle were her husband Richard and brother Ben, who owns taxi firm Four Oaks Cars.

Lucy was the first of the celebrities to be evicted from the camp.

Price walked out on Sunday in protest at being constantly chosen by viewers to take part in grisly tasks to win meals for the celebrities. And dancer Camilla Dallerup quit after just three days. Jo, whose parents were from Wednesbury, left the Midlands to get married but lived in Badgers Bank Road, Four Oaks, after her divorce when Reading-born Lucy was 16.

After several years in Sutton, Lucy moved to London and took the stage name of Benjamin after her brother.

She landed a role as Phil Mitchell’s lover in EastEnders.

In 2006 she won X Factor: Battle of the Bands when Sharon Osbourne let slip that Lucy was pregnant.