Shane Warne reveals he was allowed to smoke and get hair treatment in jungle

HE wanted $2m for charity to brave the jungle on I’m a Celebrity, but cricket legend Shane Warne has revealed he had some other unusual demands on the show.

I'm A Celebrity: Warne with Laurina Fleur, Anthony Callea, Dean Geyer. Picture: Supplied/Channel 10

I’D been asked a few times to do the British version of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Outta Here!, but didn’t fancy it. I was asked on to the British Big Brother too.

In Australia they tried to get me to do Dancing with the Stars. All noes. With due respect, I thought these shows were for wannabes and washed-ups.

The Australian I’m A Celebrity rang the first year — 2014 — but I scared them off with a figure of two million bucks or nothing.

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They said, “That’s our budget for everyone”, so there was no deal. I watched that first series and quite liked it, and I got tempted by the chance to portray myself in an environment outside cricket.

Then the reality of six weeks in the jungle with no contact with the outside world kicked in. No chats to the kids — no way! So I binned the thought.

However, the following year, Brendan Fevola was over at my place one night and said he was doing the show.

He asked if he could represent the Shane Warne Foundation.

That really got me thinking. There’d be a guy in there who I know; I’d have the chance to show Australia there’s more to me than people think; and two million is serious money, so my charity could benefit massively.

The question was: could we get them to pay that figure?

Warne’s surprise appearance earned $2m.

I called James Erskine, my manager, who said he knew the main guy at Channel 10 and would speak to him again, which he did. Bingo! Next day, James rang to say we’ve got the $2 million! Oh shit! When you throw a big number out there, you’re not really expecting to get it; but now …

So I asked the kids. “Oh Dad, you’ve got to do it,” they said. “You’d be awesome. It’s a great show — we love it and everyone will see the real you.”

“Right, the kids are the deal-breaker,” I thought, so I rang James back. “I’m in,” I said.

When the Big Bash launched in mid-December, Channel 10 were relentlessly promoting I’m A Celebrity every night, saying they had a pop star, an AFL Hall of Famer, an actress, a cricketer — and everyone thought it’d be Andrew Symonds, until someone on TV, maybe one of the Big Bash commentators, said out of nowhere, “I’ll bet it’s Shane Warne”.

Ricky Ponting sent a text, “Is it you?”, and I replied that no way had I signed to do the show. It was my way of not lying.

I hadn’t signed — I had only agreed. I didn’t sign till I was off the radar, on the edge of the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

I stayed in a hotel for a night — I was sort of held back for the first 24 hours of the show — and was then moved in a private plane to the bush. I was asking all the producers who’s in — “Come on, tell me” — but everyone was sworn to secrecy. They put me in a box, left me at the camp and disappeared.

I'm A Celebrity: Warne with Laurina Fleur, Anthony Callea, Dean Geyer. Picture: Supplied/Channel 10

After an hour the other contestants came back to camp, having heard a rumour that Warney was the last man in.

They kind of circled the box and took a while to open it. When they did, out popped Warney, me thinking, “What the hell am I doing here?!” And they were probably thinking much the same!

And Brendan Fevola was, like, “You bastard, what the hell are you doing here?!”

James negotiated me leeway on three things. One was smoking. I could smoke but had to follow the process of being about a hundred yards from the camp with a security guard accompanying me.

After a few days, some of the others smelt the cigarettes on me and there wasn’t much the producers could do when the smokers among them insisted on coming along for a dart as well.

The next was my hair. It has to be redone by Advanced Hair every three weeks, so the company flew out to the bush midway through the filming of the program.

Shane Warne receiving treatment at Advanced Hair in 2006.

It was a simple enough strand-by-strand process to the crown of my head and took no more than 45 minutes.

So, at 5am on the third Saturday morning, before anyone else woke up, a couple of the production people from the show came and grabbed me.

First they blindfolded me, then led me to a car and drove me to a house where the hairdresser fixed me up.

I was back by 6.30am and, at exactly the time everyone else was getting up, I wandered into camp as if I’d just been to the dunny.

It was quite a cool experience, and certainly kept the Advanced Hair people sweet.

*Edited extract from No Spin by Shane Warne, published by Ebury Press, October 1, RRP $49.99.

READER OFFER

Be one of the first 150 readers to buy No Spin for $42.99, and receive a copy signed by Shane Warne. Order online at heraldsun.com.au/shop

SIGNINGS

Shane will be on hand for book signings throughout October. Catch him at Dymocks, Collins St, and WH Smith, Southern Cross, October 19 and QBD Geelong, October 20.