WAG Coleen Rooney is in for a big surprise when she joins the I’m A Celebrity camp - she’s afraid of spiders.
The wife of England and Manchester United icon Wayne places conkers around her home so she doesn’t go bonkers over the creepy critters. Some scientists say the nuts contain the chemical saponin which is a naturally-occurring insect repellent and keeps the giant, biting false widow spiders at bay.
But she won’t be able to rely on her horse chestnut trick when she joins her fellow campmates in the Aussie jungle with hosts Ant and Dec. Instead of investing in expensive repellents or fancy gadgets, the wary WAG places the conkers around the family’s £10million pad in Cheshire.
A close friend said: “Coleen puts them everywhere she can think of. She’s been taught the old fashioned method that conkers scare away spiders.
“Wayne doesn’t really see the point but is letting her get on with it. But she can’t exactly jet off Down Under with her designer handbag bulging with conkers.!
The UK has seen a surge in reported attacks by false widows, suggesting the spiders are venturing further and further north.
And spiders are just part of a long list of pests that will invade the camp. I’m A Celebrity: Extra Cam presenter Joe Swash once revealed how the jungle waterhole becomes over-run with creepy-crawlies, saying: “It’s got leeches everywhere in the water.”
Former contestants Kim Woodburn and Nicola McLean have both had run-ins with leeches in the past. Sexy Nicola was horrified when one of the bloodsuckers clamped itself onto her boob in the camp.
Giant earthworms also make an appearance on the jungle floor during heavy rain when they are forced out of their flooded burrows.
But ITV bosses do employ a team of experts to sweep the camp for deadly snakes and spiders.
Show’s doc Dr Bob McCarron once revealed two deadly funnel-web spiders, as well as poisonous snakes, were removed from the area in New South Wales where the reality show is filmed.
One snake was plucked from the drawbridge used by hosts Ant and Dec minutes before they began filming.
Dr Bob said: “We have removed some Rough Scaled snakes, they are highly venomous and usually very aggressive.”
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