Why Anne Hegerty can’t do Bushtucker trials on I’m A Celebrity 2018 has been revealed.
Anne Hegerty’s manager has denied that her Asperger’s syndrome is the reason she’s being ruled out of the tasks Trials, saying the show can’t afford to “take risks”.
For a number of this year’s tasks, Anne has been deemed ineligible on “medical grounds”, including tonight’s latest task.
The situation has got viewers talking on social media, while host Dec Donnelly has even joked about it on-air.
Now Anne’s manager David Hahn has shed some light on why she hasn’t been up for all the tasks.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, he insisted autism doesn’t affect such rulings and explained the expensive “rigorous” medical checks all the campmates face.
“Anne is 60 years old, she’s not 21,” he commented. “The rigorous checks that they go through are incredible.
“That must cost £20-30,000, the medical that each one of them goes through, and they don’t leave any stone unturned.
‘They can’t take risks, because where they are in the jungle is quite away from a hospital.”
David noted: “If they say she can’t do a trial for medical reasons, it’s got nothing to do with her Asperger’s or autism.”
Meanwhile, Anne’s The Chase co-star Mark Labbett revealed how he convinced her to sign up for the ITV survival show.
“She was umming and ahhing over it, and I was trying to persuade her,” he said. “She was talking about what she wanted to do in TV, and this is a golden opportunity.
“Plus the producers went all the way to Manchester to interview her and I said, ‘well they sound like they’re pretty keen’!”
Mark – also known as The Beast – also praised Anne’s performance in this week’s Hellish Hospital Trial, where she won seven meals for camp.
“That first Trial, she wasn’t expecting it and it threw her,” he said.
“But the Bushtucker Trial where she prepared herself, she absolutely bossed it.”
The pair added that Anne has been herself in the jungle, with Mark denying that she has a “gameplan”.
David, meanwhile, said that her persona as The Governess is “totally an act” for The Chase.
This week Anne revealed she’s now having “fun” in the Australian outback after a challenging first week.
I’m A Celebrity currently airs nightly on ITV.
