The Towie star says she nearly backed out all over again but a slap at Heathrow airport ensured she got on the plane to South Africa
As the 12 all-star players were officially confirmed for ITV’s I’m a Celebrity: South Africa, Gemma Collins has told how she thought producers were trying to kill her.
And presenters Ant and Dec said that for the first time in years there was plenty of conflict in camp with rows and bust-ups coming thick and fast as the group vied for the title of “legend”.
Former TOWIE star Gemma will be seen competing alongside Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts, TV’s Scarlett Moffatt, ex boxer David Haye, ex Corrie favourites Beverley Callard and Craig Charles, comedian Seann Walsh, pop star Sinitta, Emmerdale actor Adam Thomas, Olympian Sir Mo Farah, former soccer star Jimmy Bullard and football manager Harry Redknapp.
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She said yes to staging a return — after lasting just three days on her first attempt in 2014 – because she was desperate to redeem herself. Gemma admitted that her decision to quit had “haunted her for years” because the public never let her forget it.
The 45-year-old explained that signing up again had been “a million per cent the best decision I’ve ever made”. But at one point she is seen crying to the producers: “I feel like you’re trying to kill me – it’s not even funny.”
She explained: “I spent my whole life with this black cloud hanging over my head, it was the one regret I had. I was bricking it, petrified. My make-up artist slapped me at Heathrow airport because I said ‘I don’t think I can go through with this’. But I took a deep breath, I went in strong and to be honest I think I shut it down. You’ll see me vulnerable in there, you’ll see me thinking I’m Lara Croft. But I’m delighted I did it, we laughed so much.”
Speaking at a launch in London today she said the biggest problem in the camp in Kruger Park had been the washing up. “At home I’ve got two dishwashers – being in there breaks you in ways you’ve never been broken before,” she lamented. And the trials were even worse, leaving her “broken to within an inch of my life”.
She sighed: “I can’t describe the pain I felt. I was so stripped bare going in there and because I knew it was so disastrous the time before, I had no chance to back out of any of it.
“But it helped my self esteem and made me realise that when you think you can’t, you absolutely can. That was powerful to take away. I’ve not got this dark cloud hanging over my head any more. Redemption!”
One stumbling block was when she fell for a prank played on her by Harry, which was so brutal that she nearly quit the show all over again. “This guy deserves an Oscar because I fully believed him,” she said. Harry laughed: “She was going home, I thought ‘I’ve overdone it here’.”
For his part, the 79-year-old said he’d “just got on with it” like he did last time around, when he found that the hardest thing had been spending three weeks apart from wife Sandra, “I just bumbled my way through it,” he laughed. “Once you get in there are find your bearings, it’s quite relaxing.”
Presenter Ant McPartlin, who has now fronted 27 runs of the hit ITV show alongside Declan Donnelly including the two all-star versions from South Africa, promised viewers a satisfyingly bumpy ride. “It’s one of the best series of I’m a Celebrity we’ve ever done,” he declared. “It’s got drama, it’s got arguments, it’s got laughs.
“Without giving too much away- you will witness arguments and things that we haven’t seen on the Australian show for a while.”
Dec agreed: “We’ve had a few ‘nice’ series where everyone has really got along well and it was one big happy family – well, not any more!”
This second legends version of the show will air on weeknights straight after Easter from April 6 and – for the first time – will end with a live final on April 24, in which viewers get to vote for the winner.
Scarlett, 35, confessed that she’d signed up for another go on the show, filmed last year, for the cash. “I’d love a new bathroom if I’m honest,” she laughed. Having been crowned Queen of the jungle when she took part 10 years ago she said everything felt different now. “I’m a mum now, I’m getting married, I’m like a proper adult. It would be so wonderful to show my little boy, Jude, what brave looks like.”
Soap star Beverley, 68, first took part during the pandemic in 2020, when the show came from a freezing cold Welsh castle. She laughed: “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life.” Last month the actress revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer which was caught in the “very early stages” and has since had surgery which included the removal of lymph nodes.
Sinitta, 62, who was terrified of everything in Australia when she took part in 2011, said that this time had also been “really terrifying”. “I think I am AI,” she laughed. “I saw a clip and it was so horrible to watch that I can’t believe it’s actually me doing it.”
Craig, 61, who had a brief stint alongside Gemma in 2014, said he’d come back to finish the journey he’d started. “I’m at that stage of my life that you want a bit of adventure,” he explained. “Last time it was quite cruelly cut short because my brother Dean passed away.”
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