Award winning actress Jessie Wallace joins the cast of Wild at Heart tonight as it returns to ITV1 for its third series.

Best known for her role as Kat Slater in EastEnders, Jessie will be trying out her stilettos in the African bush as Essex girl Amy Kriel.

Jessie explains that she jumped at the chance to play Amy in the successful ITV drama.

“I’d never been to Africa before so I knew it would be an exciting experience for me and Tallulah and it’s a great opportunity to play a fun character in such a popular show. I’ve always thought as soon as Wild at Heart comes on the telly you just want to sit down and watch it, it’s like nothing else on British TV.”

Talking of her character, Amy, Jessie says: “She comes across as scatterbrained but she’s actually quite a bright spark. I based her on a real Essex girl, bright and bubbly. She arrives on the show with a bang – quite literally as she drives into a cow. So she starts off on the wrong foot with Danny and the same with Sarah who is shocked to hear this woman shouting and screaming because she can’t find Mara, the reserve next door which Amy’s husband owns.

“Amy really puts herself on Sarah, she sees a girl from London and wants desperately to be her friend. At first Sarah isn’t interested but then she starts to see a softer side to Amy. She has a real generosity of spirit and is very understanding so people do warm to her.

“During the series you can really see her character develop. At first she’s a fish out of water compared to the Trevanions who have been a while in Africa. But Amy quickly adapts to the lifestyle because she has to – this is too important for her not to slot in. She ends up falling in love with the place.”

Sunday 17 February 2008 7:45pm - 8:45pm