I was shooting something else that time but I really wanted to be a part of it. For the second season, it so happened I called Endemol (the producers) and said that my dates are free now.

'I was probably the only crazy one to have called them and said: make me a part of this show. I think it's just great to be able to do something that prepares you for any kind of situation in future,' she said.

The show helped her in realising the biggest fear of her life.

'I have come to realise that my biggest fear is facing failure - it is more than the fear of height, more than the fear of water and more than the fear of creepy crawlies, little animals, which I don't like. And that's what drove me to do the stunts,' she said.

There was one task that Mandira felt was a little too tough to handle, but she managed it well.

'For one task, my head was put in a box which had breathing holes in it and it was closed. They put a nose clip, gave me goggles and gave me ear plugs and then they threw on my face Madagascar hissing cockroaches - they were the size of my finger.

'It was disgusting. And they went psss...psss..psss. It was a very bad feeling. We had to try and get out of it after a long procedure. It was probably three-four minutes long, which felt like an hour. I did the task because I was determined to go down the show trying, not crying,' she said.

Mandira will contend with beauties like Sushma Reddy, Carol Gracias, Shonali Nagrani, Shveta Salve and Anushka Manchanda among others on the show that premieres on Colors Sep 7 at 9 p.m.