Nigel Farage thought his 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' stint was "worth the gamble".
Nigel Farage thought I'm A Celebrity was worth the risk
The 59-year-old former UKIP leader has admitted he was warned against heading into the jungle for the ITV reality show, having being met with intense backlash over his casting.
Appearing on GB News on Wednesday (13.12.23), he said: "A lot of people said to me, 'Don’t do it, it’ll be a disaster. It’ll demean you. People will never look at you seriously again'.
"I said to them all 'Don’t be such stuffed shirts. I think it is worth the gamble and people will see who I really am, as opposed to who they think, perhaps I am.’ "
Meanwhile, Farage has recently admitted he told ITV bosses to "go to hell" after a row over his tendency to strip off in the jungle shower.
He told The Sun newspaper: "I was told that I shouldn't be naked. And yet the doctor said, personal hygiene really matters in the jungle, checking yourself for horrors like leeches matter.
“You're not going to do that unless you are naked so I ignored what ITV said. And I continued to shower naked every day.
“Interestingly, many other campmates did the same. Only I got the publicity, but you know something? I couldn't care less.
"The only fight I had in the jungle with the producers was over that.
"I had a huge row. I was told in interest of taste and in respect for the cameramen and women that I shouldn't be doing it.
"I said, 'Go to hell!'"
The GB News host's reservations were proven to be correct, as the new king of the jungle Sam Thompson had woken up to find a leech in a very intimate area.
He said: "The day I did it [showered nude] it was lashing with rain. Leeches will crawl up your leg and embed themselves in the warmest part of your body.
"Sam did not shower naked and Sam did not check himself. Sam woke up one morning screaming – the leach was huge. It was on his a*** and the sleeping bag looked like a murder scene.
"So there were very good reasons. Afterwards, my other campmates did the same, four other blokes stripped naked."
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