TV

I’m A Celebrity star accuses Amir Khan of having a gameplan

It's a bit of a stretch when he's never watched the show before, though...

Jungle viewers will know boxer Amir Khan isn’t too fond of snakes.

He memorably failed the show’s first Bushtucker Trial of the series after coming face to face with a python while deep underground trying to rescue Toff.

And he had to face the slithering creatures again during the live trial.

However, campmate Vanessa White doesn’t seem too convinced about Amir’s snake phobia…

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In an exclusive clip aired on yesterday’s Extra Camp, the popstar was seen raising questions about Amir.

She wondered if he’s genuinely afraid of snakes, or if he’s pretending in order to lure the other contestants into a false sense of security about whether or not he’s a threat on the show.

Vanessa said in the Bush Telegraph: “I’m a little bit annoyed because every time I go up against Amir he beats me.

“His tactic is the whole, ‘I’m scared of snakes thing’, but then all of a sudden he’s not scared of it.

“I think it’s all a ploy for me not to be worried, then he can get ahead.”

Hmm…

Scarlett Moffatt reacted in the studio by saying: “That’s really interesting because in a nutshell she’s sort of hinting she thinks he’s playing a bit of a game.”

Guest Kieron Richardson – aka Ste in Hollyoaks – replied: “They were the original pairing for the tower thing at the top so you think they’d have each other’s backs. But now it seems there is friction between them.”

Joe Swash, however, pointed out Amir admitted never watching I’m A Celebrity before and only just realised in the last couple of days he is filmed in the Bush Telegraph.

“If Amir Khan didn’t know this was a TV show for the last week, surely he’s not clever enough to pretend to have a fear of snakes to do well in trials?” said Joe.

Guest, Love Island’s Montana Brown, suggested Amir is genuinely afraid of snakes, but goes into “sports mode” when he has to tackle them.

Scarlett agreed, saying: “And with those live trials, as soon as Ant & Dec say it’s live, you don’t have time to think, you just have to do it.”

The group also pointed out Amir had “psyched himself up” before facing the snake in the live trial, suggesting he genuinely was scared and needed a bit of time to get himself ready.

Kieron then said he thinks larger snakes are easier to deal with as the head is further away from you, whereas small snakes – like the one in Amir’s first trial – are scarier.

Well, Amir himself has said he’s afraid of snakes, so we’ll take that as a, yes, he is actually scared.

It seemed like a genuine reaction when he pulled that python out of the hole during his first trial and screamed to stop the task.

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And his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, recently told The Sun that Amir’s not faking his reactions to the jungle creepy crawlies.

“Even in the house if there’s a spider in the window, we call each other,” she said.

“He’s very strong in ­boxing but not when it comes to insects. He is really scared of spiders so I hope he does a good job. I hope people see what a good guy he is.”

I’m A Celebrity airs 9pm on ITV.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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