Farage ruled out of some I'm a Celeb trials after 'serious physical injuries'

19 November 2023 , 22:45

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Nigel Farage and Grace Dent on I'm a Celebrity (Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Fans hoping to bombard vote lines to ensure that Nigel Farage does every bushtucker trial will be disappointed.

The Brexiteer, 59, says he is unable to do anything too physical and has been ruled out of some trials for health reasons. So it is unlikely he will follow in the footsteps of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who did six trials in a row last year.

Asked what trials he couldn’t do, Farage, who suffered severe injuries in a light plane crash in 2010, said: “Anything involving weightlifting, I’d be out. I’ve obviously had some quite serious physical injuries and neck reconstructions, and goodness knows what else.

Nigel Farage taking part in the Outback Challenge (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

“So they are fully aware that I’m a little bit damaged when it comes to bodily structure. But having said that, I can still do most things. I doubt any of the trials are actually going to kill me, although I don’t think they’ll all be a bag of fun. But look, I signed up for this. It’s in for a penny in for a pound. So let’s go.”

It appears Farage is using the show to try to relaunch his political career as a Tory after the next election. Tom Baldwin, a former Labour director of communications, said: “He went around Tory conference saying he wants to be Tory Party leader some day, so maybe he thinks this is some weird route back.

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“Farage is enormously popular with 25-30% of the public, and loathed by the rest. So he could be trying to broaden his appeal.” After entering the camp, Farage chatted to foodie Grace Dent, 50, while Josie Gibson, 38, impressed Britney Spears’ sister Jamie Lynn, 32, by telling her she is a presenter on ITV1’s This Morning.

Josie wasted no time mocking Farage earlier when they were sent to the outback to take part in challenges and get covered in slime. After the politician said it wasn’t going to be easy, Josie joked: “It can’t be worse than Brexit!”

Mark Jefferies