Richard jailed and Louise on brink as I’m A Celeb returns
FLARES, bug-ridden cages and a terrifying 213ft drop: It could only mark the return of I’m A Celebrity.
Richard Madeley and louise Minchin were among the ten stars battling the elements – and their fears – in a series of gruelling challenges for last night’s opener.
Those who won earned a place in the main camp at Gwrych Castle, North Wales, which came kitted out with a fire, shower and a hot meal.
But, unlike in previous series, those who lost faced the horrors of the ‘Clink’: A rival camp with no beds or towels and ‘very basic’ bathroom options.
Miss Minchin, 53, faced off against Emmerdale actor Danny Miller in the first challenge of the series – which saw them balancing hundreds of feet above a quarry lake.
Switching the red gilets for orange waterproofs, they had to teeter on the edge of a wobbling platform and strike a buzzer with their feet as soon as they saw a green light.
The former BBC Breakfast presenter said: ‘I can’t think of many things worse than this right now. It’s terrifying.’
Yet, despite her fears, she managed to keep her cool and win the challenge – sending Miller plummeting as his platform gave way.
However, Madeley, 65, didn’t quite share her good fortune. The Good Morning Britain host competed against singer-songwriter Frankie Bridge in the series’ first bushtucker trial, ‘Turrets of Terror’.
Coming up against locked gates and swarms of insects, the pair had to race to the top of the towers where they would find the key for the main camp. But Miss Bridge, 32, scrambled to the prize just ahead of Madeley – leaving him to freeze in the Clink.
Dame Arlene Phillips, who at 78 is the oldest contestant to take part in the ITV reality show, was paired with footballer David Ginola for the third challenge.
The two faced off against Olympian Matty lee and Paralympian Kadeena Cox in ‘Hell Holes’, which saw them struggling to move a tool along a cord to set off a flare.
The victorious lee and Miss Cox went on to join Miss Minchin, Miss Bridge and radio DJ Snoochie Shy in the main camp. Meanwhile, Miss Phillips and Ginola joined Madeley, Miller and music producer Naughty Boy in the Clink.
last night Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who competed on the show in 2012, tweeted: ‘Best of luck to the I’m A Celebrity contestants tonight.
‘An experience you’ll remember for the rest of your life – and who knows what might happen afterwards...’
I’m A Celebrity continues tonight at 9pm.