The celebrities' must-have cars

And Danielle’s been able to test her driving ability to the extreme.

“I’ve been on the track a few times,” says Danielle. “I was driving this 400bhp Morgan round the Bedford Aerodrome. It was really scary, but now I love driving fast round the track.”

“My friend owns a Ferrari and he’s taken me round Brands Hatch a few times in it. I wouldn’t want to drive it though, just in case I crashed it.”

Girl power - cars of the stars

Danielle was doing a photoshoot in 2006 when she got one of her biggest driving buzzes.

“I was at Santa Pod and I got the chance to have a passenger ride in a drag car.”

She hit 167mph on the quarter-mile strip, but events a few days later changed her view of the experience.

“It was amazing, but a bit scary looking back at it now,” says Danielle. “It was a couple of days before Richard Hammond's (288mph Dragster) crash.”

The stars' first cars

Being a passenger in a drag car and thrashing a Morgan round a race track aren’t the biggest challenges Danielle has been forced to face as a tabloid favourite.

“The photographers are annoying,” says Danielle. “When I got my Bentley I drove it in to London's West End and the paparrazi managed to scratch it by climbing onto the bonnet to get a shot. I don't take my car round there anymore.”

Danielle’s old Range Rover Sport which she gave to her dad, was for sale on Auto Trader recently.

“My dad was selling his Range Rover Sport on Auto Trader because I’ve bought him the new Jaguar XF,” says Danielle. “I’ve also bought my brother a BMW 3 Series and my mum an Audi Q7.”

Danielle has appeared on a host of celebrity TV specials of popular shows including Big Brother, The Weakest Link and, most recently, Gladiators.

“It was brilliant – I got the most points, but then I fell at the last hurdle of The Eliminator,” says Danielle. “But it was a great experience and all for a good cause.”

Danielle has donated her fees from the shows (totalling more than £70,000) to the Linda McCartney Centre in Liverpool, helping to fund a special cancer detecting scanner.

After the physical exertion of training for Gladiators, Danielle’s headed off to Portugal for a holiday with the girls. After that it’s back to work for her 2009 calendar photoshoot.

Before I leave Danielle to finish her packing, I ask her about another young, car-loving Brit who’s always in the headlines.

“I’ve known Lewis Hamilton since he was in Formula 3,” says Danielle. “I’m so pleased for him as he such a nice, down-to-earth guy who’s done so well. I watched him at Silverstone last year and I’d love him to win this season’s championship.”

View our slide show of Danielle's car history

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