I’m A Celebrity… I need to get out of here! Venomous snakes have infiltrated the camp, and there have been several sightings.
For the next three weeks, This Morning’s Josie Gibson, Nigel Farage, and Jamie Lynn Spears will be living in the jungle, but they won’t be alone.
According to the show’s Health and Safety Officer, Jeremy Douglas, more serpents than normal had arrived at the ITV show’s Australian site this year due to the’so humid’ weather.
He said: ‘We have had a lot of snakes on the site this year, possibly because it has been so humid.’
Jeremy continued to The Sun: ‘We have had pythons, and non-venomous and venomous species.
‘You get small eyed snakes and brown tree snakes predominantly.’
There have already been 15 snake sightings, according to executive producer Laura Woolf, but she admits it will ‘become worse’ when the 10 celebs enter the jungle this weekend because they like to leave food around.
She added to the publication: ‘We’ve had 15 snake sightings across the site and then we’ve had to identify some venomous ones in camp.
‘It gets worse when the celebs come in because they leave food everywhere. It’s like they don’t realise they’re living in a jungle!’
After finding one near their flat, hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly issued a warning about the poisonous snakes.
It’s believed to have been an Eastern Brown Snake, which is the world’s second-most poisonous land snake.
‘Ant and Dec will have to keep their eyes peeled when on the beach and in the surrounding area. The snake has been spotted exactly where they hang out between shows and brown snakes are not to be messed with,’ a source from the show claimed.
‘Snakes are part of Aussie life but it is still scary to think one of these was slithering around so close by,’ they added to The Mirror.
The Eastern Brown Snake, which may grow to be seven feet (two metres) long, is notable for its defensive displays, which include coiling its neck into a ‘S’ form, rising off the ground, and opening its jaws, ready to attack.
They are responsible for more snakebite deaths in Australia than any other category of snakes, and they are also highly swift, with the ability to outrun a human running at full speed.
The increased presence of serpents in the I’m A Celebrity jungle will be especially alarming for actress and singer Jamie Lynn.
Speaking about her fears ahead of heading to the jungle, the 32-year-old star – the sister of Britney Spears – said: ‘Everything you’ve just mentioned (snakes, rats, heights) I am scared of.
‘I am absolutely frightened of all of these things.’
Politician Farage also recently added: ‘Nobody likes rats, and snakes.’
This follows a reported security concern just days before, when police were believed to be looking for a guy after a shotgun-wielding robber fled an incident near the camp.
But ITV were unconcerned about the event hurting the programme, with a spokeswoman telling Metro.co.uk that worries of a threat to the safety of campmates made ‘no sense’, considering that the thief was observed some 30 minutes away from the new camp.
I’m A Celebrity returns to ITV on Sunday, November 19, at 9pm.
