Shane Warne is secret intruder on I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here
AS cricketing legend Shane Warne prepared to enter the jungle as part of the latest season of I’m A Celeb, his kids had one request — don’t embarrass them.
Reality
Don't miss out on the headlines from Reality. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AS Shane Warne prepares to head into the South African jungle, the cricketer has angrily denied any wrongdoing after the announcement of the closure of his namesake charity.
“For anyone thinking I’m running into the jungle to hide from it, it’s just rubbish,” Warne told News Corp ahead of entering the I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! camp tomorrow night.
“I am very hurt about it because we haven’t done anything wrong. All we’ve done is make a difference to children and a significant difference.”
Warne last week announced The Shane Warne Foundation would cease to operate as of March 18, when the charity will announce its final payment to those in need.
He’s expecting the final amount of around $400,000 to bring the total money raised by the organisation since launch in 2004 to more than $4.1 million.
The announcement came as Consumer Affairs Victoria continues to investigate the foundation that helps sick children over claims of mismanagement.
“Contrary to what people are saying that the only reason we are closing is because of audits and stuff,” Warne said. “What they don’t understand is we are still doing the audit. We have never ever done anything inappropriate or untoward at the foundation. This notion that we just threw parties for our friends is ridiculous. One life is worth saving and we have saved many.”
Eddie McGuire is also involved in the charity and Warne said the pair would write to Consumer Affairs over the way “they calculate this so called number of how many cents in the dollar you donate to charity”. He argues his foundation had donated almost half of what it earned through events including lavish functions, with the rest being required for “certain fixed costs you have to have”.
Warne reportedly paid $2 million for I’m A Celeb
Warne, 46, is the final celebrity announced to take part in series two of Ten’s I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!
He goes into the jungle a day after the other 11 celebrities that include Val Lehman, Havana Brown, Brendan Fevola and Paul Harragon.
The controversial cricketer said his three teenage children had encouraged him to take part in the series.
“The one thing they did say is ‘don’t embarrass us’. And I said, ‘that’s my job to embarrass you as your dad,” laughed Warne, who is “very single at the moment”.
“I’m going in with an open mind, I will try anything. I might not be able to do it all but I’ll give it a crack. I’m scared of everything. I hate heights, I hate everything. You don’t know how you are going to react because they obviously try and break you in the first few weeks.”
He continued: “I’m a very competitive person so I’m hoping to try and win it and obviously the charity element to it as well will help our final cheque that we’re giving to the foundation that will add in to the total.”
The upshot for Warne is showing Australia the real him.
“I think there’s a misconception of what I’m actually like,” he said. “People see me living this unbelievable high life and all this sort of stuff. I actually like nothing better than wearing tracksuit pants on the couch. People that know me know what I stand for. I’m a pretty tough father to my kids, I’m very loyal, probably too much to some people and I like to please people and go out of my way to help people. I’m not really a taker, I’m a giver and I’m very thankful for the life I’ve been given. I’m very lucky for that.”
Warne wouldn’t disclose what he’s being paid to take part, other than to say “I thought I’d be getting a lot more than I’m getting”.
Warne, who put on six kilos to beef up ahead of going into the jungle, concedes his biggest struggle will be going cold turkey with cigarettes as he currently smokes between 40 and 50 a day.
“Ciggies will be very tough. To give up there’s going to be a lot of phlegm and a lot of stuff coming up so hopefully there’s a spit bucket or something like that. That’s going to be really hard for me because I am a heavy smoker.”
Even before being announced, Warne was already bookies favourite to win the series.
“I’m not going in there to hopefully be voted out in a week. I am going in there to try and win it; everyone would be silly if they didn’t think that way. But when you’re hungry and tired and not smoking and all of those things thrown into the mix like a cake, you don’t know if it is going to be a good cake when it turns out.”
Whatever happens in the jungle and despite the closure of his foundation, Warne has vowed to continue with charity work.
“We will find another way to do it. We are not going to stop. I am going to become an ambassador for other charities so there’s other ways I will donate my time to give back but unfortunately the Shane Warne Foundation won’t be one of them.”
• The journalist is in South Africa as a guest of Channel Ten covering I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!
Originally published as Shane Warne is secret intruder on I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here
Star mortified by accidental live TV gaffe
She may seem like one of the most confident presenters on TV, but Melissa Leong struggled to shake off her embarrassment over a recent live slip-up.
Mel Leong reflects on MasterChef exit
The former MasterChef judge opens up about leaving the reality series – and her latest role on the new season of Dessert Masters, as she teases what’s next.