Ex-Scotland striker Ally McCoist has revealed who his dream campmate would be on I’m a Celebrity, sparking rumours that he may not have quit the 2024 line-up after all.
Speculation has been rife as to if the former Rangers star would be heading to the Australian jungle after he rejected ITV bosses’ offers to appear on the show in previous years.
Earlier this month after allegedly accepting his spot in the jungle, Ally reportedly backed out.
Speaking on TalkSPORT Breakfast last month, McCoist was asked by Jeff Stelling about whether his rumoured jungle appearance was true with the 62-year-old replying: “No – there’s your answer.”
However, now, Ally told talkSPORT BET that his former Rangers teammate Paul Gascoigne would be his dream campmate on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, sparking rumours that he may be heading down under after all.
Speaking to talkSPORT BET, McCoist said: “There’s no doubt about who my dream campmate would be, it has to be Paul Gascoine. He would keep me going. I’m led to believe that there is an element of boredom when you’re in the jungle. Obviously when we watch it at home it’s only on for an hour, but there’s another 23 hours that they have to spend in there which we don’t see.
“If there’s somebody who can keep you entertained for 24 hours a day, it’s Gazza. He’d be a valuable campmate and therefore he gets my vote for who I’d want to be in the jungle with!”
The football star, who remains as Rangers ‘ all-time top scorer with 355 goals in 581 matches and won eight league titles, was offered the opportunity to head to Australia in 2019 and again in 2022 but decided it wasn’t for him.
And Ally, 62, admitted his wife and kids stopped speaking to him after he knocked back the chance to appear on one of the families’ favourite shows.
In 2022, the dad-of-five said: “The bit where you jump out of the helicopter or plane at the start – I’d like to do that. But then rest is downhill. You don’t really know until you’re there but I actually think being in the coffin with the rats and snakes – from where I’m sitting right now – I don’t think that would bother me that much. I’m not a fan of cockroaches.”
He then said that his wife Vivian and their two sons are huge fans of the show as well as his three older kids from his first marriage.
He went on to say that his family were gutted when he turned down the chance to appear in the line-up back in 2019 – they were so annoyed at him, in fact, that they gave him the silent treatment.
After rejecting the show’s offer, he said: “The kids aren’t talking to me at all. The younger ones would love it and the older ones would love it as well. They are going to school and they are getting it off their pals.
“My wife is not giving a monkey’s about me eating spiders and earwigs, she is just wanting a two stretch in that Versace hotel. It’s the biggest thing we watch as a family, it’s brilliant entertainment. Harry was fantastic last year.”
He also said he was a huge fan of presenters Ant and Dec describing them as “magic”.
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