Former page three pin-up Sam Fox says she’ll be able to cope with most things in the I’m A Celebrity jungle after a gruelling fitness regime - apart from creepy crawlies.
The 43-year-old admitted: “When there’s a spider in the house or my cat brings a baby rat or something in it’s just the end of the world, I have to call somebody. Two women live in the house, so you can imagine – ‘Help’.
“I’m going to do my best to conquer my fears in the jungle. I’ll just keep saying to myself that nothing is going to kill me.
“I would love to be able to come home from the jungle and Myra, my partner, say to me: ‘Sam there’s a dead rat in the kitchen, or the biggest spider – can you get it?’ I’ll feel really proud of myself if I do.”
However, Sam Fox is hoping her love of all things outdoors - and a willingness to tackle the most challenging of physical trials - will come in handy during I’m A Celebrity.
She explained: “I’m not scared of much. I love all the high-wire stuff. I’ve done a lot of boot camps, a lot of mountain climbing, coasteering and stuff, so I’m really into that kind of outdoor way of life.”
She’s also said that coping with basic facilities in the jungle camp doesn’t worry her at all, and added: “My favourite holiday is once a year I go off with a backpack to the Far East and don’t book any hotels, just go to islands I fancy, get a map, stay in huts on the beach with no electricity, no hot water, and after a few days if I fancy a bit of five star treatment I get on a boat and go and find it.
“To be honest I really enjoy it because it’s totally different to what I do almost every day in my life, which is a lot of glamour, luxury, first class travel, any food I want. That’s part of being in show business and you can get spoilt but I will say it’s never gone to my head. I still feel like a working class girl from the East End.”
Sam loves working out and staying in shape and she plans to stick to her fitness regime in the jungle.
“I’ve been told the boredom is one of the big issues for a lot of people and I know what I like, I love to be doing things,” she explained. “I’ll be one of those people getting everybody up and doing something, whether its games, sport, getting people to do some sit-ups or boxing training, If people want to get fit they can do that with me. If you see me lifting logs I’ll be working on my biceps.
“Of course you’ll see me under the waterfall in my bikini. I’m really proud of my body. Because I do a lot of concerts I’m constantly going to the gym, I work out a lot and look after myself. I’m a 43- year-old woman and everything’s natural about me, which I’m really proud to say, and I just want to show women in their 40s that we can still look great.”
And what isn’t she looking forward to in terms of the Bushtucker Trials? “The worst trial for me would be having that helmet put on when they’re pouring in different creatures and there’s things going up your nostrils and in your ear holes because you can’t use your hands to flick them away,” Sam admitted. “I’m a little bit claustrophobic as well so I think that would be the worst.
“With the eating trials, it’s funny, watching Matt Willis chewing the kangaroo bum. I’d rather eat something smaller and not so chewy so it can be swallowed quickly. I’m quite scared of all that chewing – I might be doing plenty of gagging.”
