I’m A Celebrity introduces two new celebrities to this year’s line up tonight!
Boxer Tony Bellew and jockey Frankie Dettori will join the current cast in camp and are immediately thrown into the deep end.
The original celebs will be split into two teams with Tony and Frankie each taking the lead of one. The two teams will then go head to head in a series of challenges to win rewards.
Tony Bellew
Entering the competition later than others, ex-boxing champion Tony Bellew, accustomed to high-stakes matches, anticipates confronting his phobias will be a greater challenge.
Despite this, Tony is adamant about never uttering the iconic phrase “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!” to hosts Ant and Dec. He’s determined not to concede defeat.
Tony, maintaining the competitive zeal he displayed in the boxing ring, vows: “You won’t catch me saying those words. I don’t think of myself as a celebrity and I will never back down or give in. I hope my sporting competitiveness will kick in. Imagine if it’s your fault if people aren’t eating?!
“This is going to be very hard and I am apprehensive. I had to think long and hard about doing it because it is so out of my comfort zone and it was my missus who talked me around to doing it.
“Ant & Dec are the best in the business and everyone knows that. They are unbelievable. I want to come in for the experience and leave a little bit of a trail for my kids who will be able to say: ‘My dad did that’. And it is my children who motivate me. The biggest incentive is to make them proud. I am getting excited now and it is going to be surreal being with Ant & Dec. I’ve never met them before!”
Frankie Dettori
Switching from the racetrack to the jungle, champion jockey Frankie Dettori expects his fellow athletes will eagerly vote for him to participate in trials on I’m A Celebrity, particularly looking forward to seeing him tackle the show’s notorious eating challenges.
Frankie acknowledges that his wife and five kids are also excited to see him in these famous eating trials. He shares that his motivation for joining the show was to step entirely out of his comfort zone and try something radically different.
“It’s definitely sinking in now that I am doing I’m A Celebrity”, says the famous jockey. “This is going to be tougher than a horse race, it is going to be a challenge, but I am looking forward to it all. I am going straight from riding to the jungle.
“But you don’t get to do this every day so why not? There are a lot of things that are unique, it’s the jungle, a different environment, you have to eat a lot of bo**ocks! It’s also fun, demanding and I am going to meet a lot of new people. I am 100 percent committed and I am not going to moan about what I am missing as I’m looking forward to the challenge of it all.”
And whilst Frankie admits some of the trials could be tough, he hopes the votes will come pouring in so he can take part in them. “I have seen some of the disgusting things but that’s the kind of thing I want to do,” he laughs.
“My family can’t wait for me to take part. And believe it or not, they are looking forward to me eating bushtucker too. The jockeys will like seeing me do some embarrassing things as well.”
I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here airs nightly at 9PM on ITV1 and ITVX.
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