Anne Hegerty, known as the Governess on The Chase, has admitted she felt overwhelmed during her time on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and spent her first two days trying to leave the ITV show. Speaking to Emma Jo Real-Davis on QVC's The Joy of Shopping podcast, Hegerty reflected on her 2018 jungle experience and confessed just how difficult she found the beginning.
First 48 Hours of Desperation
Hegerty, 67, said: “The Jungle was quite an experience. Oh my goodness, I spent the first 48 hours desperately trying to get out of it.” She explained that although she wanted to leave, the show's welfare team encouraged her to keep going rather than making a snap decision. “They were basically saying, you know, talk to your campmates, talk to Medic Bob, take it day by day, take it hour by hour. And basically it was sort of like, try and stay another night, try and stay another day and another night,” she recalled.
A Turning Point in the Jungle
Hegerty said her outlook shifted once the two camps merged. She remembered John Barrowman greeting her with open arms and Nick Knowles spending time chatting to her and reassuring her. “I remember waking up the next morning and thinking, 'You know what, I can actually imagine staying till I get voted off.' And I didn't actually try to get out again,” she said.
A psychologist recommended she be excused from Bushtucker Trials for about a week due to distress after the opening challenge. However, Hegerty insisted she felt capable of later tasks and would have happily taken on the Celebrity Cyclone. “I would have been pathetic and I would have landed completely on my face, but I would have been laughing and I would have been giving it a go,” she said.
Eating Trial and Aftermath
Emma Jo Real-Davis praised Hegerty's performance in an eating trial, saying, “Also, you downed those blended fish eyes in about 12 seconds, Anne.” Hegerty replied, “I absolutely did.” She dismissed suggestions the concoction was less revolting, adding, “It left a residue in the bottom of the glass. You could see that was not Diet Coke.” However, she admitted viewers never saw what happened after the cameras stopped. “What you didn't see was I threw up half an hour later... I was just being walked back into camp and I suddenly said to the security guys, 'Hang on a second, guys,' and leaned over and threw up,” she said.
Hegerty appeared on I'm A Celebrity in 2018 and was the fifth celebrity to leave after 19 days in camp, losing the public vote alongside John Barrowman. After her exit, she thanked her fellow contestants for helping her through, saying she “couldn't have done it” without them and admitted she discovered she was “much more of a wimp” than she had realised.
