Bernard Tomic meant to be an intruder on I’m A Celebrity

CHANNEL 10 planned to send Bernard Tomic into the I’m A Celeb jungle as an intruder had he made it through to the main Australian Open draw.

CHANNEL 10 planned to send Bernard Tomic into the jungle as an intruder had he made it through to the main Australian Open draw.

The Gold Coast tennis player (above) was heavily criticised when, after failing to qualify for the Australian Open, he bragged “I count my millions” before rumours spread that he told colleagues he had been offered more than $1 million to appear on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!

But the show’s executive producer Stephen Tate said any rumours “he threw in the towel because he had I’m A Celebrity in his back pocket are incorrect”.

“We’d been in talks with him for months. If he had gone all the way in the Australian Open we had a contingency for him to go in later,” Tate said.

Adding that he would have entered the show as an intruder, Tate said: “We were quite prepared to take him when he was ready to come.”

Bernard Tomic on Channel 10’s I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

Tate also downplayed the apparent $1 million fee, which he described as “absolutely untrue and grossly inflated”.

A source told Confidential that some celebrities were offered $20,000 to $30,000 per week to appear on the show rather than offered a lump sum.

While he wouldn’t disclose payments, Tate said: “The kind of figures that I’ve seen quoted would be impossible to sustain for any Australian television program. They are just made-up numbers.”

“I have not read a single headline that is even close to the truth about payments. “

Tomic became the first celebrity to leave the show, lasting just a handful of days. While Tomic cited his desire to return to tennis, Tate said the detox process played a part in the decision.

“We see day four as a real pressure point and it’s interesting because that’s when Bernard walked,” Tate said.

“People underestimate the impact the detox process has. Each year we see day four as this marker of where people really feel pressure.”

Originally published as Bernard Tomic meant to be an intruder on I’m A Celebrity