Gillian McKeith gets traumatic I'm A Celeb flashbacks when she looks at spaghetti
Gillian McKeith cannot "touch" spaghetti because it reminds her of "worms" and her traumatic I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! experience.
Gillian McKeith cannot "touch" spaghetti because it gives her traumatic I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! flashbacks.
The 65-year-old Holistic Nutritionist - who refused to do Bushtucker Trials to win meals for camp, and famously fainted during a live trial on the ITV reality show in 2010 - said the long, thin pasta looks like "worms" and it brings back nightmares of being in the jungle.
In an interview with Bella magazine, she said: "After going on I'm A Celebrity!, I can't touch spaghetti - it looks like worms and reminds me of being back in the jungle."
As well as spaghetti, the TV presenter loathes mushrooms.
She explained: "I don't like mushrooms, I absolutely hate them!
"It's the texture, it makes me feel sick."
Gillian has defended herself many times for not faking her collapse during a live trial on the ITV reality programme - in which she finished in eighth place - and said it was brought on by her extreme fear of insects, known as entomophobia.
As she is petrified of spiders, Gillian previously revealed she calls local taxi companies to her house and asks the driver to get rid of them.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz at the Ghosted rom-com film premiere at Leicester Square in London in February 2023, Gillian said: "I don’t think anyone realised just how scared I was of insects.
"People say to me, ‘Why don’t you go and get hypnotised then and deal with it that way?’
"But the thing is I’m never in a situation where I’m living with these creepy crawlies to that level. So I don’t really want to do it.
"If I find a spider here is what I do, I call a local taxi service and they come and help me.
"Then after I do it they ask me, 'Well, where do you want to go,’ and I say, 'I don’t want to go anywhere I just need help.'
Gillian made a comeback to I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! in 2023, and she joined the likes of her 2010 campmate, Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder, 62, and TV presenter Carol Vorderman, 64, for the all-star version of the ITV programme.
Even though Gillian felt even more "apprehensive and petrified" about taking part in the spin-off show, she wanted to represent the "scaredy cats" of Britain.
The TV personality said at the time: "Now when I think about doing I’m A Celebrity again, I feel apprehensive and petrified.
"It’s going to be more terrifying this time because, back then, I didn’t know what to expect, but this time I can’t use that as an excuse.
"What I felt before feels 1000 times worse now and all of it freaks me out, but I feel I’ve got a calling to represent all the scaredy cats in Britain – and that is the reason why I’ve said yes."
