Wayne Rooney has told friends he plans to smuggle white pepper into the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! camp to improve the taste of meals, as his football pals predict he could 'snap' once hunger sets in.
The former England forward is among the famous faces heading to Australia to take part in the ITV reality series this month, in which contestants survive in a jungle camp with limited rations.
Friends Discuss Rooney's Jungle Plans
Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, host Paddy McGuinness noted that Wayne had been 'hammering the training to be on the telly', adding: 'When he [was] playing, he never went to that level really, did he? He was never that ripped up when he was playing.'
Wayne's fellow former Manchester United player Nicky Butt dubbed him 'a natural beast' and confessed: 'I just want to see him flip. I want to see him snap on the jungle.'
Guest James Nelson-Joyce, the This City is Ours actor who is also friends with Wayne, revealed that the former sports star has already cut out items from his diet to avoid withdrawal on the show, explaining: 'Well he's cut the coffee out hasn't he? He phoned me and said: "I've not had caffeine for weeks".'
Smuggling Plan Revealed
Nicky said he'd also spoken to Wayne ahead of his trip to Australia and the star confessed to him that he was going to attempt to smuggle some pepper into the camp. 'I said, "What are you going to take in?" He said, "White pepper. I'm gonna put it in my band here [in my trousers] and I'm gonna tip it out like that". And I thought, "You'll get caught!"'
The fact that Nicky has shared this publicly ahead of the campmates heading into the jungle has, of course, made his failure even more likely now...
With Paul Scholes then slightly perplexed by that choice, Paddy explained that the bland food they eat in there is one of the things that really gets campmates down, seemingly drawing on his experience of talking to fellow celebrities.
Predictions for Rooney's Jungle Stint
Paul, another Man U alumnus, then agreed, 'I think that's what gets people the most angry isn't it, having no food', before predicting of Wayne: 'He's either going to be hilarious or he's going to flip his lid. He could bang [hit] someone.'
'No food, no sleep. Mosquito bites. He's going to snap. He's ready to snap, isn't he?' added Nicky. 'Either way it will be great. Either way he will be funny.'
The presenting trio then went on to back Wayne going all the way, with Nicky saying he thinks the former Derby County manager 'could win it', while Paddy described him as 'one of the best bookings they've had for a while'.
Paul also agreed that he has a good chance of winning the show but pointed to stiff competition from any social media stars in the line-up who may bring in big numbers in the public vote, saying: 'I think he will win it. The only trouble you get those YouTubers and streamers, and they get millions of votes.'
Line-Up and Start Date
Wayne, whose wife Coleen Rooney competed on the show in 2024, finishing as runner-up to McFly singer Danny Jones, will reportedly be in the jungle with stars including Gavin and Stacey actress Joanna Page, YouTuber Sharky, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson, TV presenter AJ Odudu and comedian Leigh Francis.
He was pictured at Manchester airport on Sunday morning, set to head for Australia via Singapore, while TV presenter and wheelchair basketball player Ade Adeptian has already now landed in Oz too.
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! starts on Monday, November 16, at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
