I'm A Celeb bosses locked in talks with Farage over last minute rule change
I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! is in talks with Nigel Farage's team about making an exception for the Brexit Party leader's on one of the show's strict rules, according to an insider.
It has been heavily rumoured that the Brexit Party leader has signed up to the ITV reality series, joining the likes of Jamie Lynn Spears and Josie Gibson in the Australian jungle.
Speaking in a recent interview, political journalist Ava Evans has now dropped some 'insider knowledge' about Nigel's concerns of joining the show. While many people may assume that the 59-year-old is worried about the living conditions or those infamous Bushtucker Trials, he's actually far more fixated on the camp's contraband.
Nigel Farage's smoking habit could stop him going on I'm A Celebrity (ITV)I'm A Celebrity contestants are subject to strict rules when it comes to packing for the show, with several everyday items forbidden from entering the isolated camp. The stars are not allowed to bring any clocks, snacks, cosmetics, books or writing materials such as pen and paper into their base, as part of the producers' strategy to keep them immersed in the competition and promote interaction with their campmates.
It's even been reported that there are limits to the amount of underwear stars can take, with one former contestant claiming they were told to pack no more than three pairs. Cigarettes are apparently another banned product, which means celebrities who smoke may have to quit the habit in order to participate in the show. If they can't, it's understood that there is also the option to make a deal with the producers.
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"Would you like some insider knowledge of why Nigel Farage was considering not doing it? It is the smoking ban. You can't smoke and he is a very heavy smoker," Ava told host Miranda Sawyer on the Paper Cuts podcast.
"Will they let him smoke at the back?" the award-winning journalist asked. Ava proceeded that I'm A Celeb's producers are now in talks with Nigel Farage's representatives to come to a potential compromise.
"I think that's being negotiated," she replied. "That was a discussion that Chris Moyles also has last year because he is also a very heavy smoker."
Kerry Katona was seen smoking on the show in 2004 (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Other past I'm A Celebrity stars to have gotten around this rule include Kerry Katona and Jenny McAlpine, who were both shown puffing away on camera during their seasons.
ITV has claimed that there is no smoking ban, however, but that stars with a nicotine habit must only light up in an allocated area. "Celebrities who smoke are allowed to smoke in camp," they told the Sun in 2018. "They have to smoke near the campfire and then put stubs out in the fire."
Nigel Farage has never been shy about his smoking habit, having been photographed puffing on cigarettes on multiple occasions throughout his political career. Just last month, he criticized Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's proposed law to ban smoking by stopping anyone aged 14 or under from being able to buy cigarettes.
"'How a man that clever can bring in such a stupid law," he said during a tense interview on Good Morning Britain, before adding that to ignore the drug epidemic and focus on cigarettes is "a mistake."
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