The Very Best Of Sports Stars On I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

We have seen some classic moments over the past 19 years
10:35, 23 Nov 2021

This week saw the highly-anticipated return of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here to the our screens, and with it a whole host of sport stars working their way through a myriad of Witchetty grubs, dingo dollars and kangaroo anuses in a bid to be crowned king or queen of the j̶u̶n̶g̶l̶e̶ castle. This year sees Premier League heartthrob David Ginola, Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Matty Lee and Paralympic superstar Kadeena Cox, MBE join the likes of Frankie Bridge, Naughty Boy and Richard Madeley at Gwrych Castle for the next few weeks.

It got The Sportsman thinking. Over the years we have seen some of the biggest and best names from the world of sport try their hand at winning the celebrity gameshow. Harry Redknapp famously became King of the Jungle in 2018 but the likes of Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Jimmy Bullard were not quite as successful during their time on the show. Here's some of the best moments from sports stars on I'm A Celebrity...

Fatima Whitbread hard as nails

Fatima Whitbread stunned the nation with her resoluteness and determination back in 2011. Her sporting career had seen her win silver and bronze medals in the javelin at the Olympic Games as well as World Championship gold and BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award in 1987, but this programme showed a different side to her. 

In one of the most unforgettable scenes in I’m A Celebrity history, Whitbread had to stand silently for 30 seconds in a helmet filled with cockroaches only for one of the little blighters to immediately crawl up her nose.

Even when the allotted time was up she could not get rid of the cockroach, and no amount of cajoling would help. It wasn’t until she’d received assistance from Medic Bob that it finally came free, more than two minutes after it had entered her nose. And, you know what, she didn’t flinch once. What a woman.

Harry Redknapp football’s great romantic

Giacomo Cassanova. William Shakespeare. Lord Byron. Now we have another name to add to the list of great romantics… Harry Redknapp. When he entered the jungle last year we thought we knew what the English football manager was about, a cheeky chappy who knew football inside out. 

But what we did not fully understand was his love for his wife Sandra, something that became apparent just a few episodes into the series. The couple had been together for 54 years and he shared tales of love and romance during the series, something that helped him become the King of the Jungle. 

Jimmy Bullard in his pants

He may have been voted out early but 'Bulldog' provided a whole heap of wit and banter during his couple of weeks on the show. This banter may have been a bit severe for the audience watching on, and an exchange with X-Factor star Jake Quickenden led to his downfall but, all in all, he was great value on the show.

Waking his fellow campers up by singing and dancing in his pants during series 14 was utterly brilliant and we'd have loved to see him stay in for just a little while longer.

Fashanu and Tufnell face-off

I’m A Celeb was just getting going back in 2003 when eventual champion Phil Tuffnell was taught fighting techniques by runner-up John Fashanu. Two sporting greats facing off with each other made for fantastic viewing, with Fash unsurprisingly taking it slightly more seriously than Tuffers, whose jokes saw him crowned King of the Jungle.

Steady Steve Davis losing his balance

Simply iconic. Just watch this clip on repeat to pass the time.

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