I’m A Celebrity 2022: Lioness Jill Scott says ‘I am not going in to win’

Virgin Radio

3 Nov 2022, 10:00

After helping England win the women’s Euros this year, Jill Scott is set for a whole different kind of challenge. The football star is heading into the jungle for the new series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, which starts this weekend.

Having recently retired from the beautiful game, Jill said: “It’s all a bit crazy at the minute but I am going with the flow, and as soon as I was asked if I would like to take part, I said yes. 

“I don’t know what I have let myself in for, but my family are huge fans of the show and as soon as I told my mum and sister I was doing it, they were so excited.”

The former attacking midfielder added: “I feel like I have got a bit of imposter syndrome to even be on I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!

“I haven’t done any preparation. How can you prepare for something like this?”

Jill - who played professionally for Sunderland, Everton and Manchester City - said she wondered whether presenters Ant and Dec might give her a hard time if they chat about football during the programme. “I haven’t met Ant and Dec before but they are Newcastle fans, and I am Sunderland,” she said. “I don’t know if it will go down too well!”

With the men’s World Cup coming up soon, the ex-Lioness said she would find it strange to not be able to know how the men are getting on. “Hopefully they will still be in the tournament when I come out of the jungle,” she said.

On what phobias she has going into the jungle, Jill admitted: “I don’t like rats and the thought of being underground fills me with fear!”

Despite having a naturally competitive nature, which comes with being a professional sportsperson, the European champion said: “I am a winning type of person naturally, but more in a football sense when there is a Euro’s trophy at the end of it. I am not going in to win. I am going in to have a good time."

She added: “I am the type of person who is very happy for people who do well and it doesn’t necessarily have to be me.”

Another sports star to be taking part this year is former rugby player Mike Tindell.

The new series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! will begin on Sunday 6th November at 9pm.