Muscle-bound Fatima is ready for a rumble in the jungle


November 14, 2011

She'll be facing creepy crawlies and all kinds of gruesome beasties in the bushtucker trials.But that's not what's worrying former Olympic athlete Fatima Whitbread the most about her stint on I'm A Celebrity Get me Out Of Here

The sportswoman is more concerned about leaving her her 13-year-old son at home.

She said: 'I am a single mum and my son and I have been joined at the hip.'I have never left him for longer than 24 hours. I am sure I will put my head under the covers at night and there will be a few tears.

As the competition got off to a start, Fatima looked like she was exercising her worries away.

The 50-year-old put on a snow-leopard bikini and worked out, lifting logs, doing press-ups and pull-ups in her team's camp.

And her little boy Ryan – from her marriage to Andy Norman, the ex-promotions' director of the British Athletic Federation – was no doubt proud to watch his mum help her team win the first task in the jungle.

Fatima and Anthony Cotton, Benidorm star Crissy Rock, and Mark Wright won the contest which had them sticking their heads into tanks full of insects to retrieve stars.

Contestants Mark Wright and Freddie Starr will face a Bushtucker Trial on Monday night following the public vote.

Both figures were the highest the show has ever achieved for its opening episode, since launching in 2002.Viewers saw the ten celebrities - including actresses Stefanie Powers and Lorraine Chase, as well as ex-jockey Willie Carson - entering the jungle.

The 90-minute programme, launching its 11th series with its usual hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, enjoyed a peak of 12.9 million viewers.

Sunday's show - which kicked off a new three-week stint in the Australian jungle - drew an average audience of 11.8 million viewers.

 And the formula appears to have worked as ratings have hit a new high for the series.

More on the jungle contenders 

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