Former I’m A Celebrity campmate James Haskell has spoken out and revealed who he reckons will win this year's series - boxer Barry McGuigan. The former featherweight champion, 63, is amongst the favourites to triumph, with bookies’ odds of 14-1. McFly guitarist Danny Jones is the bookies’ favourite to be crowned king of the jungle, followed by Coronation Street star Alan Halsall and Barry.
‘I like Barry McGuigan – I know him and he’s a really interesting character. He’s obviously a fantastic boxer but he’s a really salt of the earth kind of guy,’ James said.
‘He has the discipline to win it but he’s also really fun and I can’t wait to see him.’
Barry has become popular with TV viewers after he got emotional as he opened up about the death of his daughter Danika. The actress died in 2019, aged 33, five weeks after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
‘It was hard for weeks in the hospital, just watching, shocking,’ he said, adding that she had ‘suffered so much pain and said, “Mum I can’t hold on”' before her death.
However, James – who finished ninth in the 2019 series alongside Jacqueline Jossa, Kate Garraway and Caitlyn Jenner – reckoned Barry could face competition from the likes of WAG Coleen Rooney and ex-Strictly Come Dancing pro Oti Mabuse.
‘You’ve got someone like Coleen and she’s going to be very interesting as she’s been in the public eye for so long and most recently because of Wagatha Christie, but we don’t really know her,’ he admitted.
‘People have guessed what she's like, and I think a lot of these times people might know the name, but they don't see the person. And now they’re going to see a daily dose of her, albeit edited.
‘And Oti, I went on her TV show and she was really lovely and really down to earth, so I'm really interested to see how she does. It’s going to be an interesting one. I just think it will be really interesting with all those characters and see who keeps their cool and stuff.’
Well now that Maura Higgins and Reverend Richard Coles are heading into the jungle, we reckon they might ruffle a few feathers...
James was speaking to Spin Genie.