Carol Vorderman stepped away from a trial in tears after wondering whether her "buoyant" bum would scupper her chances of success on I'm A Celebrity... South Africa. The ex-Countdown whiz was left in floods of tears after taking on a difficult challenge with former Olympic javelin thrower Fatima Whitbread.
62-year-old Carol is one of several former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! contestants to re-enter camp in the first ever "All Stars" spin-off series of the show, which was filmed in sunny South Africa in autumn 2022. In true I'm A Celebrity... fashion, the stars are being thrown challenging and gruesome tasks that have so far seen them eat animal genitalia and be covered in creepy crawlies as they battle it out to become the first ever I'm A Celebrity legends.
Last night's episode (May 2) saw Clifton resident Carol take part in the Tanks of Torment challenge alongside Fatima, 62, who she chose to be accompanied by after being selected to do the task. "Here we have the brains and the brawn," Fatima said about her pairing with Carol as they arrived at the site of the challenge and met with presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.
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"It's going to be a good combination."
Introducing the trial to Carol and Fatima, Ant explained to the duo: "This is Tanks of Torment. Carol, it's your job to swim through the four sections of the tank, collecting stars as you go."
Dec added: "You will only be able to move through the sections once Fatima has raised the doors that separate them."
The Manchester Evening News reports that, as Fatima cranked open the doors, Carol got to work collecting stars in tanks filled with jungle wildlife, including crocodiles and snakes. Carol warned her peers: "My bottom always floats to the top... it's the most buoyant thing in Britain.
"So getting down underwater is my biggest problem."
Despite giving it her best shot, Carol was forced to pull out when she noticed that there was a snake in the breathing hole, tearfully confessing her worst phobia to Ant and Dec as she emerged. Carol was concerned that she may have drowned, and sobbed to Fatima on their way back to camp before they decided to keep what happened to themselves.
"I don't want to tell them in camp I've been sobbing," Carol said. Although she had to pull out of the trial, she and Fatima won an impressive seven stars to take back to camp, meaning that seven of the campmates would enjoy proper meals that evening.
Viewers praised Carol for her valiant effort on Twitter. "Want to give carol a hug," Hannah tweeted.
"That would have been hard for anyone. I like snakes and I wouldnt have been able to do the last one with the snake in the only breath hole. F*** that."
Ryan Glendenning said: "Give me an eating trial over that water trial any day of the week. Carol did amazing in that Trial so happy for her."
"Brave Carol," tweeted Gemma Chatter. "You could see she tried her very best."
David O'Connor wrote: "Carol did well doing as much as she did considering her fear and Fatima was great calming person to have there, great teamwork."
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