Sleb Safari greets you fresh off the plane from Johannesburg (where it met a man whose mother was originally from Ballymena, what are the odds?) but fully caught up on I’m A Celebrity… South Africa where camp alumni are competing to be crowned the first I’m A Celebrity Legend.
The highlight of week one was Shaun Ryder’s face when Gillian McKeith arrived in camp. It was that of a man about to suffer a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’.
The pair had clashed when last in the jungle together in 2010 and Gillian was a late arrival this year, climbing out of a giant wooden crate with the words that until now had only ricocheted around Shaun’s brain in nightmares: “I couldn’t let you do this without Jungle Gill”. Medic Bob’s on standby with the smelling salts for Jungle Gill’s swoons and a tranquillizer gun in case Shaun needs darted mid-charge.
FIRST LOOK: Jungle Gill’s arrival has everyone on tenterhooks! Watch the fallout tonight at 9pm! #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/B0YSyUqtvN
— I'm A Celebrity... (@imacelebrity) April 25, 2023
Changing the venue from Australia to South Africa hasn’t diminished the number of irritants campmates have to contend with, there are just as many insects, snakes and spiders - plus there’s Paul Burrell. This man is going to dine out forever on having worked for the royal family isn’t he?
Georgia Toffolo completed a horrible trial that involved crawling through drains to win dinner for the camp and when the food hamper arrived it contained rabbit. Janice Dickinson said no to the bunny and so too did Paul Burell, except he had to shoehorn in a royal family reference.
“All my time at the palace, I never ate rabbit. They’re pets.” Mate, you stopped working there in the late nineties. Move on.
Janice is fascinated by tales from the palace and has been peppering Paul with questions. ‘Did you bathe Queen Elizabeth’, was a recent lowlight.
“No, she did that herself,” Paul replied, adding “You have to set the towels out in a special way. And royals never run their baths, they’re run for them. So they never have to put the plug in.” Priceless palace insights.
Mariah Carey likely doesn’t draw her own bath either but her staff are more discreet.
Imagine leaving this earth without the thrill of accidentally adding too many bubbles #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/qJrA3mujvg
— I'm A Celebrity... (@imacelebrity) April 26, 2023
Former campmates Scarlett Moffat and Seann Walsh are hosting an I’m A Celebrity podcast and Scarlett made her own bathing confession. After 10 days in camp without showering, Medic Bob had a quiet word and prescribed a bar of soap and bucket of water.
Scarlett also confirmed that the thousands of insects used in trials do indeed stink and the distinctive smell is of “damp urine” so it’s no wonder she was advised to shower.
Other revelations from the All-Stars camp on week one included Amir Khan explaining that he had 4,000 guests at his wedding including the local “ice cream man”; Phil Tuffnel needing to get his hearing checked after confusing “chest” for “chess” and “pans” for “pants” and Jungle Gill smuggling contraband into the camp. The drama.
We’re in week two now and the hunger and homesickness will be kicking in which translates into tension and tears. Will Shaun implode before Jungle Gill has her first faint? Will Janice snap when Paul’s answers don’t sate her curiosity? Who will be the first to squeal “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here”? Only time will tell.
Jake Gyllenhaal lived with Jamie Lee Curtis during lockdown
Remember lockdown? Remember how you put the time in? Remember how much banana bread and sourdough content was on Instagram?
Jamie Lee Curtis is here to tell you that Jake Gyllenhaal made just as much bread as anyone else and she should know because he lived with her during the first year of the pandemic.
Jamie said Jake, who is her godson, moved into her spare house next door with his girlfriend and the two households bubbled and baked.
“He made a lot of sourdough bread, a lot,” she said, adding that it was “very good.”
“So singing, acting, sourdough… and he did that test where you do a handstand against the wall and take your shirt off and put it back on.”
So very relatable; right up until that last sentence.
Priyanka Chopra Jones wants you to have a hobby
Priyanka Chopra Jones has been chatting to Elle magazine about life, work and fulfilment and how women don’t always make time to indulge in a pastime they enjoy.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about lately.” she says. “How many women out there who balance work and life forget about doing something that is just for themselves, because they’re so consumed by having that work-life balance? I realized my husband plays golf and sports and has all of these hobbies. Why don’t I want more for myself?”
Amen to that. Ladies, find a hobby; try half a dozen different classes until you find one you enjoy. And if you used to love doing something - dancing, knitting, netball, learning a language - then resurrect it. Invest in you.
