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GAZZA OF THE JUNGLE
Paul Gascoigne wants to be on I’m a Celebrity — with fellow ex-footballer Jamie Redknapp
PAUL Gascoigne wants to be on I’m a Celebrity — with fellow ex-football star Jamie Redknapp.
Gazza, 53, was the star on the recent Italian version of the show but quit after 38 days when he dislocated his shoulder.
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He reckons Sky Sports pundit Jamie would be the ideal man to have with him in the Australian jungle when the show returns later this year
Former Tottenham and Newcastle star Gazza had to throw in the towel after dislocating a shoulder in a spaghetti and meatballs challenge just days after arriving.
But he bravely returned to the delight of Italian viewers and in an exclusive interview with The Sun said:"I did five weeks on the Italian island so I can do three weeks with Ant and Dec in the jungle. Bring it on !"
Gazza was the hit of the Italian version with viewers left gutted by his early exit and The Sun was the only British paper to regularly report on his progress.
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We exclusively revealed in February he had passed a series of tough physical and mental tests to get accepted on the show which is filmed on the Honduras island of Cayos Cochinos.
In the show camp mates spent ten weeks on a desert island living off coconuts and 50g of rice a day plus any fish they catch or food they win in challenges.
He said: “I did five weeks on an Italian island so I can do three weeks with Ant and Dec in the jungle. I’d love to do the British version.”
Gazza said Jamie, 47, would be his choice to join him in the Australian jungle.
Gazza is now keen to join Ant and Dec on I’m a Celebrity in the UK.
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Gazza said:”I would love to do the British version with Ant and Dec, they are both good Geordie lads like me so we would get on really well.
“The time I spent on the island has prepared me physically and mentally. It was actually a good detox for me and I really enjoyed my time there.
“I would have loved to have done the UK show with Ian Wright but he’s already been on so Jamie Redknapp would be a good one. I know his old man Harry very well.
“I played against Jamie once and I gave him a bit of a kick and he came up to me and said ‘what did you do that for ? I love you’ I just said don’t be so soft it was only a little tap but we are good now."
Gazza said:”I’ve had interviews with I’m a Celeb over the phone a few years ago but it didn’t go too well as I think they were trying to catch me out.
“Hopefully now they have seen how well I’m doing they will give me a go. I’m just so gutted I had to pull out with my injury.
“I just had another three weeks to go and the producers told me before I went onto the island they wanted me to be the last one to leave.
“I had all the popular vote and the viewers loved me. I didn’t get nominated for eviction once so that tells you something.
“Personally from what I’ve seen I don’t think the UK version of I’m a Celeb is as physically and mentally challenging only as the Italian one.
“The Italian one lasts two months and you only get rice and coconuts plus whatever fish you catch or food you win but two months is hard.
“I’ve been away from home since February as I had to quarantine when I got to Italy before getting to Honduras so I’ve been away from England almost four months. I can’t wait to get home to Bournemouth.”
Last year Gazza shacked up with a glamorous single mum during the coronavirus pandemic.
The former England and Spurs ace fell for Wendy Leech after meeting her on holiday in Spain.
But confirming the pair had split, Gazza added: ”I’m single at the moment and that’s the best way for me. Give me fly fishing any day I’m happier doing that. When I was on the island the host asked me ‘who had hurt me the most’ and I said my first wife.
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“There’s plenty of fish to catch so I’m happy spending my time doing that. I’ve had a great life and don’t regret anything I’ve done.
“I’ve had some dark moments with the addiction and I’ve been in rehab but I’ve got through them and I’m in a good place now.
“I’ve been in rehab for booze, Red Bull, calpol and laxatives but I’ve never been in for my head. I’m alright there.
“I had a bit of a go at some of the camp mates on the island. When you think of the problems around the world starving kids and they are moaning about being hungry, I just said to them ‘you aren’t f***ing starving. Kids in Africa are. It’s a survival show f***ing get on with it’.
“I’ve been back ten days now but I still can’t get used to eating properly. My stomach has shrunk because I’ve hardly eaten but I’ve kept the weight off and I’m going to keep it down.
“One of the weirdest things is I found it hard to sleep on a proper bed after being on the floor on the island. When I hurt my shoulder they gave me a camp bed but I just said no I will sleep under it. The mattress kept the rain off me as well."
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In the show camp mates spent ten weeks on a desert island living off coconuts and 50g of rice a day plus any fish they catch or food they win in challenges.
He added: “I was in so much pain after I dislocated my shoulder. I’ve had 36 operations but never felt as much pain as I did then. I cried my eyes out when I did that.
“The doctors were amazed at how I had popped it back in twice but the hospital was crazy as well. There I was in agony and all the doctors and nurses in the hospital in Honduras just wanted to have their picture taken with me.
“I was smiling and shaking hands and thinking ‘just get on with the op. I’m in f***ing agony’.
“When I had to leave the island because the shoulder was so bad I cried as much then as I did after we lost the 1990 World Cup semi final against Germany.
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“I was so upset, I was crying in my hotel room because I felt I had let my country down again because I hadn’t won for England.
“I told my family, I was doing it for them and my country.”
Paul Gascoigne has Italy's I'm A Celeb viewers in stitches as he sunbathes naked on L'Isola dei Famosi, after injuring himself to win a plate of spaghetti and meatballs
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