Gillian McKeith calls local taxi drivers to get rid of house spiders because she’s so terrified of them.
Gillian McKeith calls local taxi drivers to get rid of spiders because she's petrified
The celebrity nutritionist, 62 - who took part in the 10th series of ITV’s ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’, on which she finished eighth – is still defending herself over her infamous fainting episode, where she collapsed during a live trial in 2010.
While some accused Gillian’s jungle antics of being fake, it was no laughing matter for the star and was brought on by her entomophobia – an extreme fear of insects.
Gillian insists she is so petrified of spiders she has to call local taxi companies to her house, and ask the driver to get rid of them.
Speaking at the premiere of British rom-com 'Ghosted' at London’s Leicester Square on Saturday (11.02.23), she exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “I don’t think anyone realised just how scared I was of insects.
“People say to me, ‘Why don’t you go and get hypnotised then and deal with it that way?’
"But the thing is I’m never in a situation where I’m living with these creepy crawlies to that level. So I don’t really want to do it.
“If I find a spider here is what I do, I call a local taxi service and they come and help me.
“Then after I do it they ask me, 'Well, where do you want to go,’ and I say, 'I don’t want to go anywhere I just need help.'
“Before I went into the jungle in 2010, I had my daughter practice with me with a fake spider, a pretend spider, so she would throw the spider at me and I’d be screaming my head off even though I knew it was plastic."
The Scottish star revealed this was not the first time she collapsed, and admitted she has a history of fainting since childhood, even collapsing at a wedding where she was a bridesmaid.
She added: “I’ve fainted several times in my life.
“I was once a bridesmaid at someone’s wedding and I fainted on the podium. When they said, 'Do you take...'
“I think they thought I was objecting, I was literally out on the ground and I was just left their whilst they finished the wedding."
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