I’m A Celeb’s Iain Lee branded jungle contestants ‘desperate’ – before signing up for the show himself
IAIN Lee will certainly be left red-faced after an old interview has resurfaced in which he brands I’m A Celeb contestants “desperate.”
The 44-year-old comedian is the latest jungle signing but previously said he turned down a big-money deal for the show, despite the fact he was out of work.
Revealing that he had been approached by ITV bosses, he told The Independent in 2005: "I'm desperate, but I'm not that desperate - yet".
ITV producers are keen to shake up things this year and have brought in the stand-up and former presenter of Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show to be the final star to go into the jungle.
Iain currently presents The Late Night Alternative show on week nights on talkRADIO.
It comes after the Sun revealed former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, a current MSP, will also be going on the ITV programme.
A source said: "Iain isn't afraid to speak his mind.
“He regularly rants and raves on his TalkRadio show and his listeners should expect the same from him in the jungle.
"He's very much in the mould of Danny Baker, who was also a late arrival last year.
“He will not bite his tongue and is sure to break the harmonious camp's current mood very quickly.
“Expect fireworks."
Iain left his BBC Three Counties Radio show in 2015 when he called a Christian lawyer a “bigot” in a heated debate on homophobia.
Libby Powell, a lawyer from Christian Concern, a conservative Christian group that opposes LGBT rights, had defended a minister who had read out passages from the Bible which condemned same sex relationships at a prison.
At the time, she said: “His message was one of repentance from sin and as part of the verses he read, he did mention homosexuality as well as a host of other sins.”
Lee replied: "Homophobia is bigotry. Do you support bigotry?"
Libby returned: "This isn't homophobia, this is God's word."
He later tweeted his fury saying he was “flabbergasted” that the Beeb had deemed his interview to have broken editorial guidelines.
He said: “Genuinely, I’m flabbergasted. The report contains examples of where I was wrong. Apart from 1 line, I kept replying, 'What's wrong with that?’
“Honestly, I don't know what I did wrong.
“Jesus, if that is his name, loves gays. And lesbians. And bisexuals. And transgender people. And you won't go to hell. Right. I'm off. Ta ta.”
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