Nigel Farage said his appearance on “I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here!” was “worth the risk”.

The 59-year-old former UKIP leader admitted he was warned against entering the jungle for the ITV reality show because he had received strong backlash over his casting.

Appearing on GB News on Wednesday (13.12.23), he said: “A lot of people said to me, ‘Don’t do it, it will be a disaster. It will humiliate you. People will never take you seriously again.’

“I told them all, ‘Don’t be so stiff. I think it’s worth the risk and people will see who I really am, as opposed to what they might think.'”

Meanwhile, Farage recently admitted he told ITV bosses to “go to hell” after a row over his habit of stripping off in the jungle shower.

He told The Sun newspaper: “I was told I couldn’t walk around naked. And yet the doctor said that personal hygiene was really important in the jungle and that it was important to check yourself for horrible things like leeches.

“You don’t do that unless you’re naked, so I ignored what ITV said. And I continued to shower naked every day.”

“Interestingly, many other campers did the same thing. Only I got the attention, but you know what? I didn’t care at all.

“The only argument I had with the producers in the jungle was about that.

“I had a huge argument. I was told not to do it because of taste and out of respect for the cameramen.

“I said, ‘Go to hell!'”

The GB News presenter’s fears proved correct, as the new king of the jungle, Sam Thompson, woke up to find a leech in a very intimate area.

He said: “The day I did it (showered naked), it was pouring with rain. Leeches crawl up your leg and nest in the warmest part of your body.”

“Sam didn’t shower naked and Sam didn’t examine himself. One morning Sam woke up screaming – the leech was huge. It was on his ass and the sleeping bag looked like a crime scene.

“So there were very good reasons. After that, my other campmates did the same thing, and four more guys took off their clothes.”