Jill Halfpenny joins Wild at Heart

Former Strictly Come Dancing champion Jill Halfpenny has signed up to head to South Africa for the ITV1 series Wild At Heart.

She will play Fiona Lynch, who is intent on winning her husband, Ed, back after she left him for a younger man.

The ex-EastEnders actress, 36, who played Kate Mitchell in the BBC1 soap, joins Stephen Tompkinson, Dawn Steele, Hayley Mills and Deon Stewardson in the seventh series of the popular ITV1 drama, to be screened next year.

Viewers will see her character, a 'tremendous flirt', bring 'disharmony and conflict' to Leopard's Den.

The actress, who triumphed on Strictly in 2004, said: "I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the cast of Wild At Heart in Africa.

"Fiona Lynch is certainly a fun and feisty character and will no doubt cause quite a few headaches for Ed (Robert Bathurst) and Danny (Tompkinson). I can't wait!"

The 10 hour-long episodes of the drama, which pulls in audiences of more than eight million, are being filmed on location at Glen Afric.