Nigel Farage claims he was told not to enter I’m A Celebrity…I Need to Get Out of Here! despite concerns that it would be a “disaster”
When news of his casting on the long-running reality series was published, the former UKIP leader, 59, was met with widespread public outrage.
However, after packing his bags and travelling to Australia, he ended up being one of the last celebrities remaining, finishing third this weekend.
Nigel has now spoken about his original reservations about coming on the show and how he overcame them.
Nigel came on GB News on Wednesday evening after returning from Australia to discuss his time in the jungle, for which he supposedly received £1.5 million.
Nigel spoke on the channel about some of the concerns that many around him had.
‘A lot of people said to me, don’t do it, it’ll be a disaster. It’ll demean you.
‘People will never look at you seriously again.
‘I said to them all “Don’t be such stuffed shirts”. I think it is worth the gamble and people will see who I really am, as opposed to who they think, perhaps I am.’
Following the conclusion of the reality series, which was won by Made in Chelsea’s Sam Thompson, it was revealed that Nigel received 25.78% of the vote, following Sam on 43.35% and former boxer Tony Bellew on 30.87%.
Despite clearly gaining popular support, Nigel and I’m A Celebrity officials were anxious behind the scenes after he opted to wash naked.
He was spotted stripping naked in the jungle shower multiple times over the season, much to the surprise of his fellow campmates and those watching from home.
However, it turns out that the producers were not impressed, and when they warned him off, he retaliated by asking them to ‘go to hell’.
‘To be told to check yourself and to be told you must keep clean – and then to be told you can’t take your pants off in the shower struck me as contradictory,’ he said.
‘I had a huge row. I was told in the interest of taste and in respect for the cameramen and women that I shouldn’t be doing this. I said, “Go to hell!”’
He continued to The Sun: ‘Sam did not shower naked and Sam did not check himself. Sam woke up one morning screaming – the leech was huge. It was on his a*** and the sleeping bag looked like a murder scene.
‘So, there were very good reasons [to be naked].’
He went on to say that after that incident, the other campmates ‘did the same’ and ‘four other blokes stripped naked’.
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! is streaming on ITVX.
