Cliff Parisi will enter the ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ camp later this week.
The former ‘EastEnders’ star – who played Minty Pearson on the soap for eight years until 2010 – will join ‘Coronation Street’s Andrew Whyment and head into the jungle a few days after the first 10 contestants have settled into the show.
A source told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre TV column: "Bosses decided that this year’s latecomers will be a soap duo.
"Cliff was really popular in ‘Enders’ and he’s a big character off-screen too, so they think he’ll go down really well with viewers."
The 59-year-old actor, who can now be seen in ‘Call the Midwife’, will fly into Australia in the next few days and bosses are hoping he and Andrew will be more successful than last year’s latecomer Noel Edmonds, who received a huge £600,000 fee but only managed to last eight days in camp.
The insider added: "Producers are hoping Cliff and Andrew will last a bit longer than Noel, even though their fees are a lot smaller."
It was revealed last week that Andrew would be a late addition to the show – which returned to ITV on Sunday (17.11.19) evening – after fans were shocked when the 38-year-old actor wasn’t among the first 10 names announced for the programme, despite being linked with it for months.
When the line-up was announced, the ‘Corrie’ star revealed he was in a Manchester garden centre, rather than Australia.
He wrote on Instagram: "Being dragged around @bentsgardenhome looking at the Christmas decorations @nicski31 (sic)"
But several soap supporters were disappointed to see he was checking out Christmas decorations rather than preparing to chow down on some creepy crawlies.
One wrote: "Gutted was looking forward to seeing you in the jungle (sic)"
Another posted: "Why arent you in the jungle ??? (sic)"
One social media user shared: "What happened to @imacelebrity (sic)"
However, some fans are holding out hope that Andrew may be a late entrant into the jungle.
One wrote: "Chill out possums, ya kinda think he’ll be one of em that go in later (sic)"
Cliff Parisi joins I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! late
