SINGING star and Queen of the Jungle Stacey Solomon stunned students when she paid a surprise visit to her former college.
The 22-year-old, a finalist on The X Factor in 2009, dropped into Havering College of Further and Higher Education in Hornchurch last week to film a BBC documentary on teenage post-natal depression.
Ms Solomon, the winner of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2010, had been studying a National Diploma in Performing Arts (Musical Theatre) at the college when she first found fame.
The ditzy singer has since become famous as the face of budget supermarket chain Iceland and is currently a judge on ITV2's Top Dog Model.
During her visit, Ms Solomon, who previously starred in Havering College shows such as Oh! What A Lovely War at the London Palladium, was reunited with her former performing arts and dance tutors Sandra Broxton and Elaine O'Connor.
The mum of two joined a musical theatre class at the Ardleigh Green Campus and, with a film crew in tow, spoke about the support and encouragement that staff gave her when she discovered she was pregnant at 17.
Stacey, mum to four-year-old Zachary and four-month-old Leighton, said she was "so excited" when she started her course at Havering College, but later feared that having a baby would wreck her career.
"When I told them at college, they were really good about it," she said.
Despite not being able to take part in the dancing elements of her course for health and safety reasons, Stacey continued with the written elements.
"I felt like I was achieving something and getting somewhere," she said.
"I was determined to get a good education."
Ms Solomon's former musical theatre lecturer Simon Gray said: "Stacey was a hard-working member of an exceptional class which also included Dayo Olatunji who has worked with Chipmunk and Wiley. We are very proud of them."
During her visit, Ms Solomon told the musical theatre students: "If you want to do something you can do it. It doesn't matter who you are or what your background is. You've got to work hard but you can do it."
Performing Arts student Eden Bishop-Jones, 16, from Harold Hill, said: "Having Stacey Solomon come into our class and listen to us sing was great.
"I loved every minute of it."
Classmate Joanna Hunt, 16, from Doddinghurst, said: "It was a complete surprise.
"It was very exciting."
