Emperor Noel Edmonds presided over a Bushtucker Trial as he arrived on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! 2018 – but only THREE campmates got to join his Inner Circle and enjoy dinner.
Yesterday, hosts Dec Donnelly and Holly Willoughby surprised the campmates with the news that all ten of them were required at the Trials area.
On arrival, they discovered it had been turned in to a jungle coliseum, said to be one of the most expensive sets in the show’s history.
“From this point on you are no longer masters of your own destiny,” Dec told them. ” You are now gladiators and your fate will be decided by a new camp leader. All hail The Emperor.”
A fanfare then introduced the brand new eleventh contestant – none other than TV legend Noel.
Joking about the torrential weather, he said: “Hail! And rain, and some sunny periods later!”
Dec explained that, as the Emperor, Noel would be exempt from all work – while, as the gladiators, the other celebs would perform all challenges and camp duties.
“No deal,” quipped Malique Thompson-Dwyer, referencing Noel’s hit gameshow Deal or No Deal.
In his first ruling act, Noel named Harry Redknapp as his Personal Advisor and the first member of his Inner Circle. Only the Emperor’s Inner Circle can eat any food won in Trials.
“Peasants behave yourselves. I now control this mob. If you misbehave you’re now going to get bad jobs,” warned Harry.
“He’s also Head of Human Resources and Public Relations,” laughed Noel.
Biteus Intensius
With the formalities over, it was time for the Bushtucker Trial, ‘Unleash The Beasts’, to get underway. Emperor Noel chose Fleur East and Sair Khan to face the first part, named ‘Biteus Maximus’.
Standing side-by-side in a cage, they each had three minutes to move a star down a thread using only their tongues.
As always, they would be accompanied by a jungle critter – this time, biting green ants.
Fleur soon got the hang of the task and showed impressive technique, but Sair took a while to get going.
Nonetheless, they won the two stars on offer – and not a moment too soon for Fleur.
“I’ve got ants in my pants, that’s what it feels like,” the ‘Sax’ singer shrieked. “It’s like they had a map to my hoo-hah!”
Crittercus Maximus
For part two, Emperor Noel picked James McVey and Nick Knowles to face ‘Crittercus Maximus’.
Lying in a cage with their heads touching in the middle, they each had to untie a knotted rope within three minutes to release a star.
As the name suggests, they also had to contend with a huge amount of creepy crawlies: 5kgs of mealworms, 5000 crickets, 5000 cockroaches, 20 scorpions and 20 large spiders.
“Thank god he’s got Nick in there,” observed Emily Atack, as the DIY SOS host encouraged James to ignore the critters.
Both gladiators released their stars with just seconds to spare, meaning the celebs had won all the available stars.
However, with only four meals on offer, only two hungry campers would get to join Emperor Noel and advisor Harry in the Inner Circle and eat dinner.
Noel decided they would be Fleur and Sair, commenting: ” I was actually going to choose the fastest performers. I thought that was the only fair way, because all four did so incredibly well.
“But I’m hoping the ladies will join us for dinner.”
Although Noel had arrived in a position of power, he was under no illusion that it would last forever.
“I’m going to make the most of it because I know hell is about to unleashed on me!” he smirked.
I’m A Celebrity 2018 airs nightly at 9.00pm on ITV, followed by Extra Camp on ITV2.
