Stars to rough it on spider island

Joey Essex preparing for his jungle stay.
18 November 2013

Reality TV's Joey Essex has been caught by surprise by the sleeping arrangements in the jungle.

As the campmates prepare for the latest series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here, The Only Way Is Essex star admitted he had not realised how much they will have to rough it.

He said to some of his fellow contestants: "I didn't know we actually had to sleep in the jungle. I thought we got a cabin or something."

In the first show of the ITV1 series, four of the celebrities board a luxury yacht on the Australian Gold Coast's Mirage Marina.

Snooker player Steve Davis was first on the boat, shortly followed by Emmerdale's Lucy Pargeter. They were then joined by The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro and Essex.

The campmates discussed spiders, particularly those of the poisonous variety for which Australia is known.

Essex said: "If you were bitten by one (a spider) that would be cool. You'd go back to England and say, 'Yeah...'"

He also told Pargeter: "I've never learned to wash my clothes. I've got a cleaner. You might need to teach me."

A speedboat then began to circle their yacht and the celebrities realised hosts Ant and Dec were on board.

The pair explained they would be split into two teams of two, Essex and Davis in the red team, and Pargeter and Ribeiro in the yellow team.

They told them they would be given a challenge and the winning team would get to spend an extra night in luxury, whilst the losers would spend the night camping on Stradbroke Island, a local sand island covered with scrub and home to some of Australia's most venomous snakes.

The stars went on to Stradbroke Island by jumping out of helicopters.

They were told that once they got to Stradbroke they would be set a challenge in which the two teams raced one another to get to three checkpoints.

At each one there would be two campmates. The first team to get there could choose which campmate would join their team. The first team to be complete has one last night in luxury with the losers staying behind and sleeping in a makeshift camp on the island.

How they get on is shown in the programme at 9pm tonight.

Ten contestants including former Olympic swimming champion Rebecca Adlington, talk show host Matthew Wright, and model Amy Willerton, are to take part in the competition.

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