Former Lioness and football presenter Alex Scott has confessed to a daring act of contraband smuggling during her time on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, an incident now dubbed 'Saltgate'. The 41-year-old was the first campmate to be evicted from this year's series on Friday night, but not before her secret seasoning operation was uncovered.
The Smuggling Operation
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Scott detailed how the scheme began. "We didn't have luxury items this year so on the way in, I stopped and got a chicken salad, how boring," she explained. Spotting sachets of salt and pepper, she decided to take a chance. "I was like, 'Let me just pick up a few, and see if I can manage to get them in camp.' And I put them down my sock on the coming in day and managed to get it in."
Scott wasn't the only one with a secret, however. Her campmate, EastEnders actress Shona McGarty, 34, also managed to sneak an air freshener into the camp by hiding it in her waistband after a trial.
Who Knew About the Salt?
The footballer revealed that her secret was not as well-kept as she had hoped. She disclosed that Jack Osbourne, 41, was in on the secret from the very beginning because he was on cooking duty and she would discreetly pass him the salt on a spoon.
Furthermore, social media sensation and favourite to win, Angry Ginge, 24, became suspicious. Scott recalled that he "saw me one night and kept giving me the eye." The final confession came on her last day in camp when she slipped the empty salt packet to Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley, who started screaming in the dunny—the camp's slang for toilet—upon discovering what it was.
The Fallout and Punishment
The clandestine operation came to a crashing halt when Scott was caught sneaking the salt into the camp's dinner. The consequence was swift and collective. The next day, the entire group of celebrities was punished, and an amnesty box was placed into the camp.
This prompted Shona McGarty to come forward with her own contraband. "Shona and I just looked at each other straight away," Scott said. "We were like, 'We have to confess', me and Shona tell each other everything." McGarty had retrieved the air freshener during a trial and kept it in the dunny, where its presence was subtly noticed. Scott recounted, "Kelly went in one day and she was like, 'Oh my God, the dunny smells so fresh'."
While their efforts brought a small taste of home and a fresher smell to the jungle, it ultimately led to a camp-wide penalty, marking one of the first scandals of the series.
