The I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! camp has been invaded by venomous snakes – and there’s been a terrifying number of sightings.
The jungle is about to become home to This Morning’s Josie Gibson, Nigel Farage and Jamie Lynn Spears for the next few weeks, but they won’t be alone, it seems.
According to the programme’s Health and Safety Officer Jeremy Douglas, more serpents then usual have headed to the ITV show’s set in Australia this year, because the weather Down Under has been ‘so humid’.
He said: ‘We have had a lot of snakes on the site this year, possibly because it has been so humid.’
Jeremy continued to The Sun: ‘We have had pythons, and non-venomous and venomous species.
‘You get small eyed snakes and brown tree snakes predominantly.’
Executive producer Laura Woolf confirmed there has already been 15 snake sightings, but admitted it will ‘get worse’ when the 10 celebrities enter the jungle this weekend, because they tend to leave food around.
She added to the publication: ‘We’ve had 15 snake sightings across the site and then we’ve had to identify some venomous ones in camp.
‘It gets worse when the celebs come in because they leave food everywhere. It’s like they don’t realise they’re living in a jungle!’
Hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly issued a warning about the deadly snakes just days ago, after spotting one near their apartment.
It’s reportedly thought to have been an Eastern Brown Snake, which is considered the world’s second-most venomous land snake.
‘Ant and Dec will have to keep their eyes peeled when on the beach and in the surrounding area. The snake has been spotted exactly where they hang out between shows and brown snakes are not to be messed with,’ a source from the show claimed.
‘Snakes are part of Aussie life but it is still scary to think one of these was slithering around so close by,’ they added to The Mirror.
Growing up to seven feet (two metres) in length, the Eastern Brown Snake is known for its defensive displays – often mistaken for aggression – which will see it coil its neck into an ‘S’ shape, rising off the ground and opening its mouth, ready to strike.
They are responsible for the most deaths from snakebite in Australia than any other group of snakes, and are also very fast, thought to be able to outpace a human running at full speed.
News of the increase in serpents in the I’m A Celebrity jungle will be particularly terrifying for actress and singer Jamie Lynn.
Speaking about her fears ahead of heading to the jungle, the 32-year-old star – the sister of Britney Spears – said: ‘Everything you’ve just mentioned (snakes, rats, heights) I am scared of.
‘I am absolutely frightened of all of these things.’
Politician Farage also recently added: ‘Nobody likes rats, and snakes.’
This comes after a reported security scare just days ago, with police said to be on the hunt for a man after a shotgun-wielding robber fled an incident close to the camp.
But ITV were not worried about the ordeal affecting the show, with a spokesperson telling Metro.co.uk that fears of a threat to the safety of campmates make ‘no sense’, given that the robber was seen almost 30 minutes away from the new camp.
I’m A Celebrity returns to ITV on Sunday, November 19, at 9pm.
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