After leaving The Only Way Is Essex, it seems there is no limit to what Amy Childs wants to do. She draws the line at the jungle though, as Chris Price found out.

When the nation rubs its hands with glee as another group of celebrities subject themselves to the torment of the jungle, one person making a sigh of relief will be Amy Childs.

The model and beautician who found fame as the tan-tastic redhead on The Only Way Is Essex will be watching from her sofa, despite being offered a place on I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here.

“Yes, I did [get offered a place on the show] but I couldn’t live with no food and no make up!” said Amy, 21, with the mischievous smile which made her the stand-out star of the ITV2 show known as TOWIE.

When the show launched last year she introduced the nation to the vajazzle – if you don’t know, don’t ask – and took her place as Essex’s ultimate bubbly party-girl with her partners in crime, Sam Faiers and Harry Derbidge.

Whether accusing girls of being “well jeal” of her looks or enthusiastically exclaiming “shut up!” at the latest twist in Brentwood’s complex love web, Amy’s comical touches were integral to the show picking up a BAFTA earlier this year.

Of course these days Amy has bigger fish to fry after taking the decision to leave the show to appear in Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother, an experience she describes as “amazing”.

Yet quitting the show appears to have been a stroke of genius from the girl who gained her Level 2 and Level 3 diploma in Beauty Specialised Techniques from Brentwood Academy, before going on to become a fully-qualified beautician. These days, she has a weekly presenter slot on ITV’s This Morning, her own national magazine column and is getting set to launch her own reality show, It’s All About Amy, on Channel 5. TOWIE has continued to go strong in its third series but Amy has no regrets.

“When I watch Harry and Sam I think 'oh I miss having a laugh with them two’ but I do think it was the right time to leave,” said Amy, who does not rate her chances of making a return to the show.

“I don’t think I would be allowed to be honest,” she laughed.

The next steps in Amy’s short but snowballing career are launching her own beauty and fashion ranges and opening her own beauty salon in Essex.

“I have always wanted to [open my own beauty salon] since I was young and I can’t believe I’m doing it now,” she said. “I am so lucky. I would have been happy to work as a beautician for a few more years.”

She will also be releasing her own 2012 calendar, which she will be signing copies of at Bluewater this weekend. But what do her friends think of the Essex girl’s decision to do her first ever calendar signing across the Thames in Kent?

Is that not a sin for an Essex girl?

“I know, but I love Bluewater. I shop there as much as Lakeside. I like all the high street shops. Top Shop and River Island are my favourite.”

Amy Childs will sign copies of her 2012 calendar at Clinton Cards, Bluewater, on Saturday, November 12, from 11am to 1pm.

The brand new series It’s All About Amy starts on Thursday, December 1, on Channel 5 at 10pm.