Cheryl Fergison is to compete on 'Celebrity Big Brother'.
The former 'EastEnders' actress - who departed Albert Square last month after almost five years when her alter ego Heather Trott was murdered - has signed a £175,000 deal to take part in the next series of the fly-on-the-wall show after impressing producers with her sense of humour.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Her character of downtrodden Heather is so different from the actual actress.
"Cheryl is hilarious. She's got a really great sense of humour and producers wanted to sign her up the minute she was written out of 'EastEnders'."
Channel 5 have upped the budget for the next series of the show in order to attract more star names and Cheryl's fee is one of the biggest they have ever paid out.
They are planning another series of the celebrity show in August/September after the contest was a huge ratings hit earlier in the year, when 'Loose Women' star Denise Welch beat the likes of Michael Madsen, Frankie Cocozza, Kirk Norcross, Natalie Cassidy, Gareth Thomas and Nicola McLean to be crowned winner.
Before the next celebrity version, a series of regular of 'Big Brother' - which is hosted by Brian Dowling - will be broadcast, but show chiefs have shortened its running time from 14 weeks to 10.