Sue Cleaver's eyes opened to 'new experiences' following I'm A Celebrity stint

Sue Cleaver says her eyes have been "opened to new experiences" following her 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' stint.

The 'Coronation Street' actress - who has portrayed Eileen Grimshaw in the ITV soap since 2000 - is looking forward to her "next challenge" in life after appearing on the ITV show.

Sue, 59, said: "My 50s have been the happiest decade of my life. I’m happy with me and where I am, so I’m looking forward to seeing what the next decade brings.

"Then again, if it doesn’t bring anything, I’m just going to have to make something happen myself.

"Since doing 'I’m A Celeb', my eyes have been opened to all these new experiences. Now, I’m just thinking, "Right, what’s my next challenge?' "

Sue admits she lost some weight on 'I'm A Celebrity', but she doesn't "obsess" over diets.

She added to Prima magazine: "I lost some weight in the jungle, but I’m not obsessing over diets: life is hard enough."

During her 'I'm A Celebrity' stint in November, Sue revealed she was adopted at birth and met her biological mother by chance as a young actress.

She told her campmates in the Australian jungle that she had never been her "authentic self" as a teenager, and was put in touch with her real mother during her early twenties.

She said: "Acting saved me. I'm adopted, and I had a lot of attachment disorders that I think started in my teens. Trying on personalities like coats, like 'Is this who I am?', 'Does this suit me?' I was never my authentic self, ever! It was when I was at drama school, so I was about 23 or 24.

"The Royal Exchange were looking for little tiny parts to be in 'Oedipus' that David Threlfall was doing. There was an actor in the show called Michael N. Harbour and when we walked in on the first day, he turned to David and said 'Oh my God, she's the absolute double of my wife when I met her!'

"He just said to me 'What was your date of birth?', I said '2nd of the ninth, 63', he said, 'Where were you born?', and I went 'Barnet.' He rung his wife and said 'I've found her.' "

The 'Band of Gold' actress went on to explain the resemblance between herself and her biological mother was "uncanny", and admitted she is usually a "private person" but felt "really safe" amongst her co-stars.