Entertainment
Paul Gascoigne claims he was banned from appearing on I’m A Celeb after failing psych test
Paul Gascoigne has claimed that he was banned from appearing on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! after he failed a psych test.
The football star has alleged that in 2009, he was rejected by ITV bosses who branded him ‘unfit for TV’.
The 53-year-old, who is about to appear on the Italian version of the reality show, hopes that by going on the programme, he will prove ‘he is in a good place’.
Speaking ahead of his stint on the series, the former football manager said when he was getting ready to appear on the UK version, he got angry when it came to speaking to the show’s psychiatrist.
He claims that when the expert asked him why he wanted to do the show, he replied with ‘I want people to see the real Paul Gascoigne’.
‘She said, “People don’t want to see that, they want to see you in arguments”,’ Paul said.
‘That really p***ed me off. I wasn’t happy about that. And the questions she asked me were ridiculous.’
Paul went on to claim that the psychiatrist also asked him ‘stupid questions’.
‘Considering some of the people they’ve had on these shows, that girl from EastEnders, Danniella Westbrook, and people like Katie Price, I just thought, “If they think they can go in but they don’t think I can, I’m out anyway”,’ he added to The Sun.
If Paul had entered the jungle in 2009, he would have been joined by Katie Price, Kim Woodburn and Jimmy White.
TV chef Gino D’Acampo ended up being crowned the king of the jungle that year, with Kim being the runner-up.
The latest series of I’m A Celeb, which is fronted by Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, was filmed in Wales due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It saw the likes of Vernon Kay, Shane Ritchie and Radio 1 DJ Jordan North taking part in the grim and gruesome trials.
In the end, it was author and podcaster Giovanna Fletcher who took home the crown.
Metro.co.uk has reached out to ITV for comment regarding Paul’s claims.
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