Jamie-Lynn Spears told the harrowing story of how her eight year old daughter Maddie nearly drowned after falling off a boat into the family pond on the latest episode of I’m a Celebrity… last night.
Trapped underwater for many minutes, poor Maddie had to be airlifted to hospital. It didn’t look good: a priest even read her last rights, but thank god, she survived. “Her body physically sat up, her spirit responded to it for whatever reason” Spears said. “That’s when I became Catholic.”
In the first few days of the show, Spears' weeping for her absent kids had been slightly annoying, but she’s now opened up and become a popular member of the camp. She looks much happier now, and says she’s made “friends for life” – and the Maddie story gave a sense of why she might have been so sensitive about her brood.
Jamie-Lynn even shared a little about what it’s like to have one of the most famous people in the world for an elder sister. She told how Britney would get her favourite delicacy, crawfish, sent to Vegas from Louisiana by their father in an icebox during her residency there. “The rednecks had come to town” she joked. Not how most folks would spend unlimited money, but each to their own.
The campmates were getting over the loss of food critic Grace Dent, who had to leave the show for health reasons early yesterday, just before she was set to do her task. Grace wrote a touching letter to campmates saying it was one of the saddest moments of her life. It meant Josie Gibson was joined by Eastenders star Danielle Harold for a vertigo-inducing task, throwing balls between two tubs raised in the sky. Danielle proved a calm and encouraging companion: Josie called her a “golden nugget” – it was a compliment.
Elsewhere, the eternal question raised its head: will Nigel Farage ever get elected? He still hopes so. Speaking about himself in the third person last week, the former UKIP leader had said there’s “a lot of chatter” about whether “Nigel becomes leader of the Tory party” one day soon. But Nige, who has started washing his hair in a saucepan each morning, couldn’t get himself elected as camp leader last night.
Instead, the public gave tigger-like Sam Thompson the job, who did a lap of the fire to celebrate, and chose Marvin as his deputy. Nigel was put on water duty, while Tony Bellew got to clean the toilet, or “dunny”, and said the job was fitting. “I’ve been dealing with kak my whole life” he said.
Campmates seem unsure if Made In Chelsea man Sam’s relentless positivity is infectious or annoying. Ex-boxer Tony Bellew was torn, saying “he is literally the most energetic person I’ve ever met in my bloody life”. He explained: “I have four kids. It’s not my first rodeo around children”. Both of them opted to spend the night in the very grim looking Misery Motel, where snakes are promised. Some of the women worried if Tony might get sick of Sam soon.Tipped to win: First Dates star Fred Sirieux whipped up an ostrich egg for the camp, surely winning fans. Fred is also planning a birthday surprise for Tony, who is turning 41 in a few days. Lucky Tony looks set to get a ballad from Marvin from JLS, who modestly chose one of his own band’s tunes for the camp to practice. Nella Rose, whose early row with Fred has calmed down, said she’d be backing dancer.
