Richard Madeley did absolutely nothing to dispel the rumours he’s heading into the I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! castle next month when he addressed the speculation on Monday morning.
Last week, the former This Morning host was at the centre of reports he’d been offered a £200K deal by ITV to join this year’s I’m A Celebrity line-up – something which fans of his frequent Accidental Partridges were very excited at the prospect of.
Returning to Good Morning Britain on Monday morning, Richard spoke out about the rumours… but to be honest, we’re no clearer on the subject than we were before.
“After a little two-week break, I’m with you now for a solid month,” Richard told co-host Susanna Reid at the beginning of the show, to which she responded: “Are you doing anything in a month’s time, Richard? That means you can’t stay with us for more than a month?”
“Oh, I see! Ah, that story!” he responded. “She’s referring to I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!.
“I’m asked this every year, actually… and I usually give them an equivocal reply. And I’ve checked with ITV what they want me to say about it. Because I may be going in, or I may not be going in.”
“Well, I may be going in or I may not be going in,” Susanna then told him.
“They haven’t named you in the papers,” Richard then pointed out, with Susanna (quite rightly, actually) telling him: “Well, it’s about time they did. Right? OK?”
Richard added: “ITV quite like its people not to confirm or deny. Because I could be a hare that’s running in the race, or I could not be. I could be a distraction. And that’s, I’m afraid, where I have to leave it.”
“That’s cleared that up then, hasn’t it?” Susanna joked.
Rather than the Australian jungle, I’m A Celebrity is returning to its new home at Gwrych Castle in North Wales for the second year running, due to the pandemic.
Other names reported to be in the frame for the new series include former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips, EastEnders alum Jake Wood and Adam Woodyatt and former Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain.
Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6am on ITV.