Nigel Farage has said he will not be able to take part in some of the I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! bushtucker trials because of health problems.
The former Ukip and Brexit party MEP turned TV presenter is entering the jungle for the reality TV show, which kicks off on Sunday.
He told the Sun that he would not be able to do some of the exercises that can determine whether his fellow camp-mates have food or luxury items, in part because of health issues resulting from a plane crash.
“Well, anything involving weightlifting, I’d be out because I’ve obviously had some quite serious physical injuries and neck reconstructions and goodness knows what else,” Farage said.
“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.”
Farage suffered back injuries when a light aeroplane he was flying in crashed on polling day for the 2010 general election. He managed to walk away from the wreckage.
Three years later he had an operation for health problems caused by the crash, including having a “couple of discs removed and replaced”, he told the BBC at the time.
The GB News presenter, who also holds shares in the TV company, is thought to be the highest-ever paid contestant, being paid a rumoured £1.5m sum.
He added that he was unfazed by the trials. “Well, you know what? I’ll just do my best. It’s all I can do.
“I doubt that any of the trials are actually going to kill me, although I don’t think they’ll all be a bag of fun.
“But hey, look, I signed up for this. It’s in for a penny, in for a pound. So let’s go.”
He will enter the jungle in Australia a year after the former health secretary Matt Hancock, who finished third in the final. Among the ordeals he faced was having to eat a fish eye and camel’s penis.
