I'm A Celeb: Boxer Barry McGuigan and Radio 1 DJ Dean McCullough head from Northern Ireland to the jungle
Boxer Barry McGuigan is set to go several rounds with Bushtucker Trials as I’m A Celeb returns.
The champ is one of two Northern Irish people hoping to be crowned King of the Jungle, as Radio 1 DJ Dean McCullough is also jetting off for the new series of the ITV show.
McGuigan, who held World, European and British featherweight belts during the 1980s, is these days a boxing promoter.
Now 63, he says he wants to conquer the jungle before he gets too old.
"It can be physically arduous, but it’s the psychological part of it that I want to conquer before I get too old,” he says.
“I’m 63 now. I’d like to think I’m a young 63, but that doesn’t mean it’ll make any of these challenges easy.
"I’d rather do it when I’m 63 than 73, put it that way.
“I’m not saying I’m going to win, but I’d like to be in there for a sustained amount of time so that I can get to know all of the guys in camp.”
The Clones Cyclone, as he was nicknamed back in the day, is best known for winning the world featherweight title against Eusebio Pedroza in 1985, for which he received a hero’s welcome in the centre of Belfast.
McGuigan also represented Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games at Edmonton in 1978 and Ireland in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and won the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year in 1985.
The only sportsman in this year’s jungle line-up, he’s confident his background in the ring will give him an edge when it comes to the arduous trials and personality clashes the show’s fans can expect.
“Once you’ve made the decision to get into I’m A Celebrity, you have to be willing to do everything,” he said.
“It might be disgusting and you might be tired, but being a fighter and being dedicated and committed to training and getting ready for fights, you have to go through hell, physically as well as psychologically.
“So, I know what I’m letting myself in for.”
Newtownabbey native Dean McCullough is the presenter of BBC Radio 1’s Pop Anthems and Early Breakfast shows.
A rising star of the station, which he joined after working at LGBT station Gaydio, McCullough initially came on board as a fill-in host before getting regular slots presenting on weekend mornings, then joined Vicky Hawkesworth to replace Scott Mills and Chris Stark in the afternoon show.
The 32-year-old admits to being nervous about what’s in store for him in the jungle over the next few weeks, stating that he’s “terrified of everything”.
“The more I think about being put in the ground with 50 snakes or getting those greenfly things that bite poured over me – well, there’s just no point thinking about it, as otherwise I won’t get on the plane,” he says.
Other famous faces joining the two local boys in the jungle include WAG Coleen Rooney, Strictly star Oti Mabuse, long-running Coronation Street actor Alan Halsall, and Tulisa Contostavlos from pop group N-Dubz.
I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! returns on ITV1 this Sunday at 9pm.