Gemma Collins turned down big-money deal for I'm A Celebrity
Gemma Collins wanted £1 million to appear on Network 10's version of 'I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here', but the broadcaster could not afford her.
Gemma Collins turned down the Australian version of 'I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!' because bosses could not stump up £1 million.
The 'TOWIE' icon famously took part in the hit ITV show in 2014 but left after just 72 hours because of how gruelling she found it, and the reality TV royalty has now revealed she was offered £20,000 to take part in Network 10's version but it did not happen because the broadcaster couldn't afford her fee.
She is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper's Hot TV column as saying: "They wanted me to do the show.
"We said I'd want £1 million, and they didn't have that sort of budget. There's no way I'd do it for £20,000 or £30,000, so I turned it down."
Despite the big-money deal, the 43-year-old diva insisted she does not need to live in a jungle for a few weeks and take part in gruesome Bushtucker Trials - including eating animal parts - to "prove" her worth in the TV industry.
Gemma added: "Do I really want to eat bugs to prove my worth in the TV industry?
"Do I really want to drink cow's d**** or camel's d**** to prove to the public that I'm worthy of their love and respect?
"The answer is no!"
The reality TV legend - who was in the camp alongside the likes of renowned journalist Michael Buerk and King of the Jungle Carl Fogarty - quit after suffering panic attacks and deciding it "wasn’t for her".
However, she later alleged she left the show after being "really badly" beaten by her then-partner Alexander Moss the night before she flew out to Australia - which he has denied.
Viewers' reaction to her departure left her thinking about wanting to "die" because she could not "cope".
She told the 'Everything I Know About Me' podcast: "[There was] all the embarrassment of like, you know what the TV programmes were saying, 'Gemma Collins left the jungle, she was hungry, she was this,' and it wasn’t my fault.
"I can remember laying in my flat where I lived and just thinking I just want to die. I haven’t done nothing wrong. I’ve left the jungle because of something that happened to me."
Gemma has a "regret" leaving and if she stayed on, she believes she could have won the show.
The star added: "That’s my biggest kind of regret with the jungle because I probably would have gone on to win the show. I would have been hilarious on there you can see from the first couple of days I was in there."
