HER glittering tiara may have slipped as she strode proudly across the bridge of victory, but there was no disputing who was Queen of the Jungle.

Former Atomic Kitten star Kerry McFadden beat Aussie singer Peter Andre and ex-BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond to the throne on I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! after fighting back through the fear and frustration-filled fortnight.

And one of the first people she rang was her former foster mum from Warrington, Margaret Woodall.

"I had gone to bed," laughs Margaret, 62, "and it was about 11.30pm when the phone rang.

"My son picked it up and shouted up to tell me it was Kerry. I flew downstairs in my nightie!

"She just said: 'Marg, it's me. I told them I wanted to phone my foster mum'.

"She wanted to know what I thought of her winning and I just told her she was brilliant. She wasn't on the phone for long because she was ringing everyone.

"But she said she couldn't wait to get home and to see her children."

Margaret said it was one of the most wonderful moments in her life when Kerry won: "I just sat here and cried."

Indeed, there were tears and smiles all round when, after a shaky start to camp life, Warrington star Kerry won TV's biggest reality show crown.

"I'm gobsmacked," she wailed. "I can't believe I'm sitting here. It feels like a fantasy."

But however stunned Kerry was - not least by the arrival of Westlife hubby Bryan whom she hugged and kissed - there was one couple who had backed her as their favourite from the very start.

The one who helped her through the other tough times in her life!

Foster parents Fred and Margaret Woodall say: "She was fantastic.

"There is something about Kerry that if she takes something on she sticks at it."

"Margaret was a bit worried about her at first," says Fred.

"I didn't think she'd be able to stick at it, eating all those bugs and things," grimaces Margaret.

But she did so with a triumph and a determination which had the whole of the country firmly behind her.

"And we are so proud of her," says Fred. "But she has always been our survival star."

Kerry, 23, was only the second foster child of retired engineer Fred, 63, and his wife, Margaret from Padgate, Warrington.

"My sister had fostered for years and, at times, when she went on holiday or the kids couldn't go with her, they would stay with us. We were approved to do that. And we really enjoyed it.

"We just thought, 'this is alright' ... and went ahead and fostered."

Fred and Margaret cared for Kerry for three-and-a-half-years, mainly during her teenage years because her mum, Susan, was a schizophrenic.

It was a huge emotional trauma for a young girl to shoulder.

"Kerry was about 12 when she came to us in 1993. Our own son, Paul, was 19," says Fred.

"And she was great, just a normal schoolgirl. Yes, I had to occasionally tell her off for wearing skirts that were too short or tops that were too low, but I suppose that happens in most homes."

Although Kerry had been through some rough times Fred says she was a joy to have, always dancing to music on the television.

"She was so bubbly and full of life, so confident and always joking and taking the mickey.

"Just like in the jungle. "That is Kerry. What you see is what you get with her. She is always straight."

As they helped the teenage Kerry rebuild her life, they knew about the hard times she had had, but they never talked about them.

"Kerry told us she loved her mum and wouldn't swop her for the world," says Fred. "We never asked any questions and she didn't volunteer anything.

"But there was no bad feeling and Kerry has always had a brilliant relationship with her mum - as did we. As far as we were concerned, we were just sharing the care of this lovely young girl when times were difficult."

Fred and Margaret spoke to Kerry when she was on her way to the jungle and have been glued to the set ever since: "It was hard watching at first when she was talking about coming home but I rang Kerry's mum and she told me Kerry had been ill the weekend before she went in to the jungle so I just thought, well that's it, she's a bit off colour.

"Kerry isn't half-hearted. She's stronger than you think - and she's showed it."

FRED and Margaret have kept in touch with Kerry ever since she left their home to move into her own flat in a hostel run by the local authority at the age of 16.

So close are Fred and Margaret to Kerry that it was Fred who gave her away for her lavish wedding to pop star Bryan. "That was a proud moment. She is like a daughter to me."

And they have always kept in touch.

"We are on the phone to Kerry quite regularly - she rings us at least once a fortnight. And if anything's happened she'll give us a tinkle.

"If ever Westlife are playing in Manchester, Kerry will always get us seats.

"And she is always telling us to go over to Ireland to visit her and the children, Molly and Lily Sue, who was one while she was in the jungle."

Indeed, if Fred praises Kerry for one thing above all else, it is for her role as a mum.

"She's a great mum," he says. "Probably more so because of what she has been through.

"She is making sure her children have a brilliant upbringing."

But for now, his pride is brimming over for her new role as Queen of the Jungle after triumphing over her fears and frustrations - and celebrities like Jordan and Razor Ruddock - to win the coveted crown.

"We are so so proud of her," say Fred and Margaret. "But then again, we always were."