Former boxer Barry McGuigan told his jungle campmates how he “wouldn’t change a thing” about his professional career after opening up to them about the Troubles in Tuesday night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
The Clones Cyclone told the camp how he won the Commonwealth gold medal at 17, and he came home to a quarter of a million people in Dublin.
“Because Ireland was going through all the Troubles and I was a sort of peace ambassador, all the bad boys f***ing hated me but yet they watched my fights! It was probably in the hope I got flattened,” he explained.
McFly’s Danny replied: “But you never did, did you? Never did.”
Barry conceded: “No, I didn’t!”
Co Longford’s Maura Higgins, who rose to fame on the 2019 series of Love Island, spoke about her experience of fame post-reality show, as she shared: “Coming back into Heathrow airport it was mayhem, the security had to drag us onto a bus because there were swamps of people.” She added: “I didn’t know what to expect.”
Coronation Street star Alan said of his fame that he’s had to sustain for nearly 27 years due to his role on the ITV soap.
“That’s constant. I think the only time I’ve found it difficult really recently is when I’ve become a father, it’s hard then.”
Coleen Rooney, who is married to former Man United footballer Wayne Rooney agreed: “That’s the thing with kids I think, it’s hard to go on days out.
“Kai told Wayne to stop coming to football games, when he played grassroots tournaments and stuff because he used to get swarmed and he couldn’t even watch the game.
“How do you say to all of these kids, ‘Go away, I’m watching my son?’ Adults, it’s different you could speak to them, so he [Kai] just said, ‘Oh, Dad there’s no point you coming because you don’t even watch me play anyway’, which is sad but it can’t be helped anyway.
“At the same time the fans help you along the way and get you where you are.”
Saying that Wayne would have rather had his career without the fame side, Barry disagreed, saying of his experience: “I wouldn’t change anything.”
Meanwhile, Oti took on the ‘Sinister Sarcophagus’.
The Dancing On Ice judge put herself forward for the Bushtucker Trial, which is the same one Northern Irish DJ Dean McCullough failed to complete in Week 1, after he called ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!’ meaning he returned with no stars for his campmates.
Presenters Ant and Dec asked if she’d fare better than him, to which she replied: “Listen, I will never say I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, that is my goal.”
Ant and Dec brought this particular Trial back after complaining they wanted viewers to see it “done properly”.
The two hosts then introduced Oti to the mummy sarcophagus, which she was locked into for the duration of the Trial, while having to answer a series of Egypt-related questions.
For every one she answered correctly, a star would then be lowered down and she had to release it using only her mouth within 30 seconds.
However, her head was stuck in a box that gets filled with creepy crawlies while her body stands in a separate tank that fills with sand.
As the mummy box was opened in order to begin the Trial, Dec joked: “The second time it’s been opened in two thousand years.”
Dean McCullough became the second celeb from this year’s cohort to be eliminated from the jungle on Sunday night, while fellow DJ and radio presenter Melvin Odoom became the latest famous name to leave on Tuesday, after being voted off by the public.
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! continues nightly at 9pm on ITV1, STV and ITVX