ITV’s I’m A Celebrity campmates are set to be joined by two new arrivals as former Love Island star Maura Higgins and Reverend Richard Coles have confirmed they will be entering the jungle to shake things up.
In an interview with the Mirror, the pair revealed they will make their jungle debut on Thursday to join their fellow campmates.
Maura, 33, admitted that she is not feeling too good after jetting straight out to Australia following a boozy blow out in Las Vegas. She said: “Honestly, I’m not good….I feel like I’m in The Hangover, I’ve even got the shakes.”
She added: “I have no clue what time it is, I don’t know where I am. In fact, I’ve done the opposite of preparing myself [for the jungle]. I’ve tried not to think about it, because when I think about it, I get so much anxiety.”
The Irish star will become the second ever Love Island contestant to take on I’m A Celeb following Olivia Attwood’s brief jungle appearance in 2022 and is determined to fly the flag for them all.
She said: “I just don’t want to let people down, because everyone’s been DMing me, saying ‘Oh my God, I hope you’re doing the show.’” she explains. “I don’t want to back out of the trials and be the biggest wimp in the camp.”
Speaking of her mother’s reaction to the news, she revealed: “She nearly died. She went: ‘Maura, how are you going to do that?’ She is baffled as I’m more of an indoor girl…I like my hotels. I’ve never slept outside. I’m always like, ‘no, get me back to a hotel”.
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Known for her feisty personality on Love Island, Maura warns that she still has a “potty mouth”. She said: “I’m still the same kind of girl but I’m not going to go in and annihilate anyone. However, if someone gets on my nerves, I’m not really one to hold it in.
“I do speak my mind. If someone patronized me, I get really irritated. Like, that’s one thing that really drives me mad.”
Meanwhile, Reverend Richard Coles revealed he has been prepping for the jungle by consuming 5000 calories and avoiding all ‘triggering’ nature documentaries.
The writer and radio presenter said: “I would like to say that I’ve been lowering my calorie intake to prepare for that, but that’s not worked out so far. I’ve been trying not to look at nature programs about the horrors of Australia.”
Although the 62-year-old seems to have an even bigger worry which he is concerned will leave ‘everybody wanting to kill me’ and that is his snoring.
He added: “I am also worried about finding a fear I didn’t know I had yet and going to pieces on television in front of a koala or wombat or something.”
Richard will make show history as the first ever vicar to enter the jungle on the ITV show. He said: “I don’t think there are many precedents for this, although, vicars have been going into jungles for years and years and years as missionaries.”
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