Amir Khan is said to have overtaken Katie Price as the highest-paid ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ star.
Show bosses reportedly splashed out nearly £400,000 to get the professional boxer onto the ITV programme, and were effectively repaid somewhat when he hit the headlines after he quit the first Bushtucker Trial because he was so scared of a snake.
A TV source said: "Amir was a great get, but he came at a hefty cost. He’s going to be the best paid celeb they’ve ever had."
Despite "often highly exaggerated" claims about how much the stars of the series earn, they are said to be on between £250,000 and £25,000, but Amir came at a premium.
The source added to The Sun newspaper: "There have been rumours of huge sums being paid to the celebrities but they’re often highly exaggerated.
"Katie Price got somewhere close, but Amir’s is slightly higher again.
"He’s a huge name in sport and current after his recent marriage problems.
"He has plenty to gain in improving his public image – but he also wasn’t doing it for peanuts. ITV have dug deep."
Earlier this year, Amir was involved in a public feud with his wife Faryal Makhdoom when he accused her of having an affair with fellow boxer Anthony Joshua.
The former light-welterweight world champion later reconciled with Faryal – with whom he has three-year-old daughter Lamaisah and is expecting another child – and admitted he had "embarrassed" himself.
He said: "I did a lot of silly things. When I accused my wife of messaging Joshua, it was all just nonsense from the start. I lived my life on social media. I assumed things which were wrong and I really embarrassed myself.
"I’d just had my hand operation and wasn’t fighting as much, so I was frustrated about not being in the boxing ring and not being able to train. I think that made me hot-headed."
Katie, 39, was previously said to have been paid around £400,000 to return to ‘I’m A Celebrity’ in 2009 – five years after she met ex-husband Peter Andre on the show.
Amir Khan ‘highest-paid I’m A Celebrity star’
