Shane Warne says he joined I’m A Celebrity to show the ‘real me’

SHANE Warne wants to set the record straight and show the Australian public the “real” him when he enters the I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here jungle.

Warnie sets the record straight

SHANE Warne wants to set the record straight and show the Australian public the “real” him when he enters the I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here jungle.

Warne was a last-minute addition to Network Ten’s reality show, signing his reportedly $2 million contract after landing in South Africa on the weekend.

The former cricketer is still defending himself over allegations his charity, the Shane Warne Foundation, was misappropriating funds.

Warne closed the foundation last week, amid an investigation by a Victorian consumer watchdog.

He hopes his appearance on I’m A Celebrity will give Australians a better idea of who he is as a person.

“One of the advantages of a show like this is that people will tune in and they’ll watch the real me, because I think there’s a misconception of what I’m actually like,” he said on The Fitzy and Wippa radio show on Monday.

“I think people see me leading this unbelievable high life, and all this sort of stuff, I actually like nothing better than tracksuit pants on the couch.”

Warne has flatly denied his foundation has done anything wrong and says he is very hurt by the allegations.

Warnie at the Aussie Millions poker welcome party.

“Closing the foundation, has been a really tough thing to do,” he said, adding that the last month has been one of the busiest times of his life.

“It’s contrary to what people are saying ... `The only reason you’re closing down the foundation is because of audits and stuff’, what they don’t understand is we’re still actually doing the audit, we have never ever done anything inappropriate or untoward at the foundation, never, ever received one cent, nothing like that.

“And this notion that we just threw parties for our friends, I mean, it’s just ridiculous. Yes, I’m very hurt about it, because we haven’t done anything wrong.” One of the celebrities joining Warne, former AFL star Brendan Fevola, has chosen the foundation as his charity of choice if he wins the show.

The winner gets $100,000 for their chosen charity.

Warne says he decided to join the cast for a number of reasons.

“I’m always up for new challenges, I’m trying to get out of the comfort zone, that was basically it, get out of my comfort zone and give everyone a crack, and my kids wanted me to do it, they were the main reasons for me to do it,” he said.

AAP has contacted Ten for confirmation of Fevola’s charity.

Ten’s I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here returns on Monday at 7:30pm.