Life

Sleb Safari: I'm A Celebrity All Stars are gluttons for punishment

Maeve Connolly

Maeve Connolly

Maeve Connolly is the Head of Audience Strategy and Growth at The Irish News and former deputy digital editor. She has worked for the company since 2000.

Ant and Dec have been filming an I'm A Celebrity All Stars in South Africa
Ant and Dec have been filming an I'm A Celebrity All Stars in South Africa

What’s the collective noun for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! alumni? All Stars, obvs. And 15 of the finest have been invited to take part in an All Stars show to mark 20 years of celebrities eating kangaroo testicles without a gun being held to their head.  

The 15 are a who’s who of former kings and queens as well as Camp Icons and according to The Sun swooning Gillian McKeith is among them. “Medic Bob on standby with the oxygen please, Medic Bob on standby.”

There was a time when Gillian’s Tupperware poo was the stuff of legend, now it’s her faint. It all came full circle in the 2019 show when campmate Nadine Coyle proposed pulling a Gillian McKeith to get out of a trial. How often do you reckon we’ll be shown the fainting clip during the first show? Gillian says she has PTSD as a result of a Bushtucker trial where was in an underground coffin with rats so why she wants to relive all that is a mystery.

Unfortunately Jordan North does not appear to be taking part which is a shame as it would have been nice to hear him making small talk with Ant and Dec to distract himself from the snakes using him as a climbing frame.

“Are you doing much after this?... Christmas… Are you spending Christmas together?”  was his opening gambit in the Iron Maiden trial of 2021.

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The Sun says the celebs taking part include Dean Gaffney who howled like a zoo animal during trials in 2006; gallant loser Shaun Ryder who came second to Stacey Solomon in 2009 and declared “As far as I am concerned the game was rigged. I really do mean that" and Carol Vorderman who will have borrowed Myleene Klass’s white bikini. Go on Vorders!

The Sun had the inside track from a show ‘source’ who breathlessly revealed: "It's a different format to Australia, who knows when and where celebrities will enter camp, literally anything could happen.” Noel Edmonds isn’t going to race in on a chariot is he?

"It's not clear how many will start in camp or how many will be there by the end when one is crowned King or Queen of the jungle, possibly for a second time.

"It's the best of I'm A Celebrity, quite literally, but there's some twists and surprises along the way for viewers and campers so it's not going to be as straightforward as they might think."

Twists and surprises on top of snakes and rats? Lucky Gillian.

Joining Gillian are Phil Tufnell, Amir Khan, Paul Burrell who was, no doubt, the last person Queen Elizabeth spoke to on her deathbed; Andrew Whyment, Georgia Toffolo, Helen Flanagan, Joe Swash (a popular pickle), Janice Dickinson, Myleene Klass, Fatima Whitbread and Jordan Banjo who will be backflipping to and fro the dunny.

All Stars? You bet. Gluttons for punishment? That too.

Hamza Yazzin goes raving with wildlife

The other reality TV show that celebs love to be asked to take part in because it doesn’t involve being locked in a box with rats has returned to our screens.

Strictly Come Dancing is back and it’s beautiful. Wildlife cameraman and presenter Hamza Yassin is proving to be an early favourite with his gentle charm.

His story of finding out he had been asked to join the Strictly line-up is cute.

"I'm sure all of the contestants for Strictly this year got a phone call saying that they are going to be on Strictly, whereas for me, I'm the odd one out.

"I got a satellite text message notification from my agent saying in capital letters 'you are on Strictly woop, woop!'

"For me I was over the moon. I could only celebrate by myself because I couldn't tell anybody. So it was me and the wildlife just raving it up really.”

Hamza for the win!

Kris Jenner forgot about a house she owns

Kris Jenner
Kris Jenner

Kris Jenner is at the bottom of a pile-on after casually mentioning she had forgotten about a house she owns.

Please, let he without sin cast the first stone. Who among us hasn’t had a house slip our minds? 

Kris’s ‘revelation’ came during the trailer for series two of the new Keeping Up With The Kardashians which makes it a completely authentic, entirely believable scenario.

Kris offered by way of explanation: "Here's the thing. I have a condo and my mom has one, and my cousin has one, and we all live nearby…I kinda forgot it was there. That sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?"

Not at all Kris, not at all. Everyone has the utmost sympathy for your predicament.

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