Holly: I’ll keep Ant’s jungle seat warm
ANT McPartlin is happy his good friend Holly Willoughby is going to keep his seat “warm” in the Australian jungle as he continues to recover from drug and alcohol addiction, she revealed yesterday.
This Morning TV presenter Holly spoke during dinner with Ant’s partner Declan Donnelly, 43, and his wife Ali Astall, 40, after she arrived in Australia to stand in on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!
After her 27-hour flight, Holly, 37, took a stroll around town with the couple and their baby daughter Isla near their hotel on the Gold Coast.
She said of Ant, 42: “We’ve spoken and he’s happy – he was part of the decision that I’d do it. He just needs to look after himself, that’s the most important thing.
“He knows I’ll look after the show and keep it warm for him.”
Holly shares a management team with Ant and Dec.
Holly said her only fear was creepycrawlies, saying she had been told “uninvited creatures keep landing on you and getting stuck in your hair”.
The I’m A Celebrity line-up has not yet been confirmed, but ex-football manager Harry Redknapp was spotted lugging a suitcase through Brisbane’s airport on Saturday – and was immediately given odds of 10-1 to win by bookmaker Coral.
Other contestants are rumoured to be ex-EastEnders actress Rita Simmons and Coronation Street star Sair Khan.
TV quiz show The Chase’s Anne Hegerty and The Inbetweeners actress Emily Atack are also thought to be making their way to Australia.
Other stars who have reportedly signed up include DIY SOS presenter, Nick Knowles, X Factor 2014 runnerup Fleur East, The Vamps guitarist James McVey and Hollyoaks actor Malique Thompson-Dwyer.
Holly will earn a rumoured £500,000 for her stint on I’m A Celebrity, which begins on November 18 after a twoweek rehearsal.
She earns £600,000 a year from This Morning, which she presents with Phillip Schofield, and a rumoured £100,000 a year as a brand ambassador for Marks & Spencer.
Holly’s children, Harry, nine, Belle, seven, and Chester, four, will join her for part of her stay in the jungle and her parents will also visit. But work commitments mean her TV producer husband Dan Baldwin, 43, can be there for only five days.