While the cameras continuously rolled for three weeks on I'm a Celebrity, filming the campmates' every move, there was one contestant who was allowed a break from the crew – Anne Hegerty. The Chase star has revealed that she was granted a half-hour every day to be alone to learn her lines. Anne is due to perform in the Dick Whittington panto in Windsor next week, and ahead of her performance, she had to brush up on her script.
"I open next Tuesday, at the moment Anita Harris is playing me at the Theatre Royal in Windsor," Anne, who plays the Queen Rat, said on This Morning. She revealed: "I've seen the script, I was allowed half an hour with it a day in the jungle. I've got my lines down, apart from they've now rewritten most of them so I need to learn them."
© Photo: RexAnne has been open about her fondness for Nick Knowles
Anne admitted there was "not enough money in the world" that could persuade her to join the show, but after a lunch with the show bosses, she was convinced. Despite her low spirits at the start of I'm a Celebrity, she revealed: "The people were by far the best thing… so protective and reassuring. I do not expect to make friends that quickly, but fantastic people. Rita [Simons] is young enough to be my daughter and she's more like my mum! And I adore Nick [Knowles]. I will not hear a word against Nick. He could see I was struggling and was immediately supportive."
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A look at the past I'm a Celebrity winners:
The 60-year-old TV star has previously sung the praises of the DIY SOS presenter, who memorably offered her his luxury treat – a pillow – when she couldn't sleep. Speaking to Metro after leaving the show, Anne said: "I don't think they've [the fans] seen how protective he [Nick] gets with the other campmates, and how he'll have blazing rows in the Bush Telegraph if he thinks the rest of us are being put at risk in any way."
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She continued: "Honestly, from the conversations I've been having with people since I got out, I think there's a lot of things Nick has been doing that have just not been shown." Anne also confessed to Nick being her favourite former campmate, saying: "I'd say I'm very fond of all of them, but I guess it's no secret that my favourite is Nick."
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