I'm A Celebrity star admits going to 'boot camp' to 'mentally' prepare

03 December 2023 , 21:50

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Sam Fox revealed she put herself through the paces before entering the I'm A Celeb jungle (Image: Ken McKay/ITV)

I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! star Samantha Fox has confessed that she signed up for a boot camp to 'mentally' prepare herself for life in the jungle.

The 57-year-old participated in the ITV reality series back in 2009, joining the likes of Katie Price, Gino D'Campo and Kim Woodburn in the pursuit of being crowned Queen of the Jungle. Despite being eliminated third, Samantha swears she was more than ready for her time on the show. The former glamour model, who has also built an impressive singing career, has now detailed the gruelling training regime she did to give her the best shot at success in the Queensland jungle.

"Before you go you need to prepare yourself," she told the Daily Star. "I went to a boot camp with a lot of mountain climbing, canoeing, base jumping and tree climbing so I prepared myself mentally then I did boxing training. My boxing trainer would say to me 'Remember Sam, nothing is going to kill you.'"

I'm A Celebrity star Sam Fox has revealed she went to boot camp before joining the show in 2009 (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

As for her experience on I'm A Celebrity, Sam hailed it as "one of the best things I've ever done." She also criticised contestants who question why they signed up, insisting that they should have known what to expect from the gritty show. "It's been on ITV for many years, it's one of the nation's favourite programmes and many celebrities, like me, we all follow it and love it so we know when we sign up for it or should know, what we're signing up for," she said. As for what she found most difficult in the jungle, Sam admitted she struggled with boredom and was always begging to be nominated for Bushtucker trials to stay occupied.

Samantha Fox has admitted she sometimes got bored on I'm A Celebrity (REX/Shutterstock)

"When you're in there the time goes slow," she admitted. "The first day when we went in, me and Gino [D'ACampo] got the first challenge, we both pulled the short straw, so I had to hold a spider in my mouth for 30 seconds so I think because it was the first day and didn't have time to think about it, I did it with ease really. After that day I was ready for anything but the braver you are at the beginning, you won't get picked for the challenges. I was like 'Pick me, pick me' the first week because you can get bored in the jungle."

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Sam also shared her approval for this year's lineup, which includes well-known faces like First Dates star Fred Sirieux, YouTuber Nella Rose and former Ukip leader Nigel Farage. "It's really good. The mix is really good this year," she said. "I don't see many cracks, there was a beginning but I think they are all getting on a bit better now and working more as a team because before they went into different camps there was a little bit of a divide at the beginning but I'm glad that's over now. Everybody seems really friendly which means they support each other which is really important in the jungle."

Emma Dooney