There’s nothing I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! fans enjoy more than a grisly Bushtucker Trial.
But viewers are often left puzzled when presenters Ant and Dec reveal a campmate is exempt from giving them a go in an effort to win stars for camp.
So what makes celebrities exempt from trials?
The exact reason why some celebrities are excused from certain trials is very rarely revealed to viewers, but it is often due to medical grounds.
So far, the latest series has seen Babatúndé Aléshé, Boy George, Sue Cleaver and Mike Tindall all prohibited from taking part in certain trials.
I’m A Celebrity: Why the contestants are exempt from certain trials
(Image: ITV)
Celebrity Gogglebox star Babatúndé, 34, has frequently been exempt from trials involving water, leading viewers to speculate that he is not a strong swimmer.
Meanwhile, eagle-eyed viewers spotted Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver appeared to be wearing an insulin patch during her time in the jungle.
The actress, 59, has type 2 diabetes; a condition in which a person’s blood sugar (glucose) levels become too high and fans have concluded this is most likely the reason she was exempt from all of the revolting eating trials.
Sue Cleaver was exempt from eating trials during her time in the jungle
(Image: ITV)
Sue has previously opened up about her diabetes, saying it is “really important” to keep on top of it.
Her “camp husband” and former England rugby player Mike Tindall, 44, was exempt from the first trial of the series, Horrifying Heights.
Although we can’t say for sure, a look back through his career and reality TV history could provide insight as to why.
The sports star, who is married to royal and equestrian Zara Tindall, once ended up in intensive care for five days with two broken ribs, a punctured lung and lacerated liver following a nasty rugby injury.
Mike Tindall was exempt from the Horrifying Heights trial
(Image: ITV)
In 2015, Mike had to be airlifted to hospital after cracking his head open on a tree branch the Costa Rican rainforest while filming Bear Grylls: Mission Survive and later that year while competing in Channel 4 series The Jump, he landed on his head.
Speaking previously on an all-male takeover of Loose Women to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, Mike, who has broken his nose eight times, said the reported link between multiple blows to the head from playing rugby and early dementia is a health concern of his.
On the 2018 series, fan favourite and The Chase star Anne Hegerty was routinely ruled out from tackling trials due to “medical grounds”.
Speaking to Metro, Anne said: “I was quite freaked out by the first bushtucker trial and only getting two stars. I could have got four, but either I couldn’t line up the numbers on the padlocks or I wasn’t pushing the spring down properly.
Anne Hegerty appeared on the show in 2018 and was exempt from certain trials
(Image: ITV)
“I don’t want to go into more details as I’d be giving away production secrets, but the ‘exemption on medical grounds’ thing thereafter was really more on the basis of how I’d reacted psychologically to that one, rather than because I’m a fat lump or anything.”
Former glamour model Nicola McLean, 41, who starred in the jungle back in 2008, recently revealed she was once not allowed to do a trial on I’m A Celebrity due to her big boobs.
Speaking over a decade after appearing on the show, she said: “I couldn’t do a trial because of my implants.”
Nicola appeared on the 2008 series of I’m a Celeb and was exempt due to her breasts
(Image: ITV)
“There was something with a harness because we were worried they’d end up around the back, as implants can move, but yeah I can’t remember what it was but I wasn’t allowed to do something.”
Nicola added: “Maybe it was laying on my front in the challenge that I couldn’t do, as they were in the way or something but they’re always in the way, to be honest.”
When contacted by OK! ITV declined to comment on what makes celebrities exempt from trials.
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