Keith Lemon says the new ‘Celebrity Juice’ team captain was "always going to be" Paddy McGuinness.
The outrageous TV presenter – who is the comic creation of actor Leigh Francis – has addressed the rumours that ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ star Emily Atack was going to take over from Fearne Cotton after she quit the show at the end of last year, but he insisted there would have been "too many comparisons" if the actress had taken on the role.
Speaking to Digital Spy, he said: "There were rumours about it being Emily Atack and I love her to death, but it was always going to be Paddy.
"Me and Holly [Willoughby] met up to discuss who would take over and we just agreed immediately that it had to be Paddy. She’s really good mates with him and while she’s my TV sister, Paddy’s my TV brother.
"I think it’s great because if we’d have got another girl there would have been too many comparisons with Fearne."
Emily, 29, previously admitted that the ‘Take Me Out’ host is "great" for the job and said she is "happy" he got the role as team captain.
She gushed: "Paddy will be amazing! Paddy is just brilliant and he’s great for the job. The ‘Celeb Juice’ job was never mine, people just guessed, but it was quite funny to watch the rumours.
"Leigh and I were just laughing. Leigh and I are such close friends, we’re together a lot and people just assumed… People just decided to put two and two together.
"But I knew I never had the job, I always knew Paddy had the job, so I’ve always been very happy for Paddy."
Keith Lemon: Paddy McGuinness was always going to be Celebrity Juice captain
