Mel Buttle reveals cause of crippling snake phobia after leaving I’m a Celebrity

After walking out of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! in tears, Mel Buttle reveals the childhood event that caused her snake phobia and the camp sighting that tipped her over the edge.

Mel Buttle has revealed going on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! helped her realise the severity of her snake phobia, having spent the majority of her life avoiding any location she might see one.

The Brisbane comedian and Qweekend columnist became the first star to withdraw from the competition on Wednesday night after being overcome by fear when fellow contestant Pettifleur Berenger spotted a snake in the camp site.

It came after Buttle, 38, originally declined Channel 10’s offer to be on the show, which was filmed in northern NSW, because of her fear of snakes, which she developed after visiting Sydney’s Taronga Zoo when she was two.

Brisbane comedian Mel Buttle was the first star to withdraw from I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! on Wednesday. Picture: Supplied/Channel 10

“My dad held me up to the snake enclosure. I left my body in fear,” she said.

“From then on I’ve not been into photos of snakes.

“To say yes to the jungle took lots of convincing on the producers’ part. But I didn’t want to live my life not doing anything because I can’t run into snakes.”

She added: “I didn’t realise until I was in the jungle and I started to think about it. I don’t go to certain countries because of snakes. I don’t go to museums … I realised it’s a way bigger problem than I thought.”

Berenger’s snake sighting came shortly after Toni Pearen had returned from a challenge during which she’d been submerged in a box of snakes and bitten on the face.

“Just hearing about that made my skin crawl and made me feel really on edge,” Buttle said, adding on-set snake handlers had removed the snake Berringer spotted from the camp.

“That wasn’t enough for my brain. I just went into this hyper alert state that I really couldn’t see myself coming out of.

Buttle quit due to her snake phobia.

She was comforted by her camp mates.

“What tipped me over the edge was I went to the toilet and I came out and there was a massive lizard next to the basin. I saw that as a sign from the universe to get out. I hadn’t seen a lizard until that point. I thought, ‘OK these reptiles are trying to get their mugs on TV’. I screamed my head off at this lizard.”

While she wished she’d lasted longer, Buttle was glad producers had talked her into appearing on the reality show, which she described as “the most challenging, best thing I’ve ever done in my whole career”.

But she admitted she wouldn’t be taking any steps to overcome her snake phobia after leaving the jungle.

“I would love to say yes and give you a feel good story. But I’m like, nope, it didn’t work, back to my system of avoiding them,” she said.

“I won’t be buying a pet snake any time soon. I’ll stick with my dog.”

Buttle has comedy shows in Cairns and Townsville next week before a gig at the Sit Down Comedy Club in Brisbane on Saturday, January 16.

Originally published as Mel Buttle reveals cause of crippling snake phobia after leaving I’m a Celebrity