- By Noor Nanji
- Cultural reporter
3 hours ago
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Nigel Farage waded through the rubbish to help his fellow campers
Nigel Farage has said he is a “hero” to some people and a “villain” to others as he appears in new series I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
“In the jungle you will find the real me,” the former Ukip and Brexit Party leader promised viewers.
He is the latest political figure to star on the ITV show, following in the footsteps of former health secretary Matt Hancock last year.
Farage earns £1.5 million for taking part in the show.
Last year the public voted for Hancock to take part in a series of unpleasant bushtucker trials.
And Farage has already been chosen by the public to take part in the next trial following his debut on the show – alongside social media sensation Nella Rose in a game called Jungle Pizzeria.
In the opening episode, Farage and two other housemates – This Morning presenter Josie Gibson and YouTuber Rose – were abandoned in the middle of the Australian outback.
Their job was to fight slime and snakes and buy time for their fellow campers who were taking part in other challenges thousands of miles away.
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Gibson rummaged through barrels of trash in the first episode
Farage, who arrived in a pink shirt and chinos, said he was excited to try “something different in life”, to which Gibson replied: “It can’t be worse than Brexit.”
He hit back, “Oh… it didn’t take long, did it? It did not take long. I felt like we were going to get a little bit of that.”
He then jumped straight into the challenges, sticking his head through the window of a snake-filled RV while unable to use his hands.
He was joined by Rose, who looked frightened at the prospect of the tasks.
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Youtuber Nella Rose had a lot to do
Rose has one million followers on TikTok, plus 900,000 on Instagram and almost 800,000 on YouTube.
The show’s producers hope it can help appeal to a younger audience.
Other participants this year include Jamie Lynn Spears, who said in her introductory video that she is “best known as an actress and singer.”
Spears, Hollyoaks actor Nick Pickard and JLS singer Marvin Humes had to undergo a parachute jump before entering the camp.
Spears later said the dive was like “living out my childhood dreams of being a fairy.”
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Jamie Lynn Spears tried a skydive in the first episode
Other contestants this year include restaurant critic and MasterChef guest judge Grace Dent, TV presenter Fred Sirieix, reality star Sam Thompson and former EastEnders actress Danielle Harold.
The four landed by helicopter on the roof of a Gold Coast skyscraper and were tasked with walking along a horizontal beam.
Hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly were on hand to cheer on the celebrities as the battle to crown one of them as king or queen of the jungle began.
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Danielle Harold took on a terrifying skyscraper challenge
Welcoming viewers to the new series, they said: “Tonight the talking stops and the adventure begins…buckle up for the ride of your life.”
Following a public vote, Farage and Rose will both take part in the show’s next challenge.
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