Their hair straighteners and extra toiletries have been left behind. But this being day one of their gruelling charity trek up Africa's highest mountain Denise Van Outen and her fellow celebrities were still looking fresh-faced and enthusiastic.
Before the Comic Relief trip up 19,340ft Mount Kilimanjaro the TV personality, who has been joined by the likes of Cheryl Cole and Fearne Cotton for the eight-day climb, admitted to some nerves.
"People say that when you stand at the foot of Kilimanjaro and look up you just scream, 'Oh my God'. So I do feel nervous," confessed Denise, who has left her fiancé Lee Meads back in Britain.
"But I'm ready. I have trained like never before for this. This is my big year - I'm climbing to the top of a mountain and then marrying Lee," she added.
The fundraising challenge was the brainchild of Take That's Gary Barlow who aims to "raise a mountain of cash" to provide the people of Tanzania with mosquito nets to help prevent the spread of malaria.
The team, which includes Ronan Keating and Alesha Dixon, landed in Tanzania on Saturday aboard a Kenya Airways plane which had its nose painted red for the occasion.
Glamorous singer Cheryl was still wearing her stilettos on the flight, but anyone who thinks she hasn't got the stamina for the ascent may be underestimating her, according to Denise.
She said: "Cheryl is a great girl and has thrown herself into it - she is a fiercely determined person".
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
