Featured Image Credit: Getty / ITV
Topics: Im a Celebrity, Cricket
Ryan Smart
One I'm A Celebrity contestant was permitted to do something that no other celebrity has ever been able to do while in the jungle.
The UK version of I'm A Celebrity has spanned 24 series since it began in 2002, with the duo of Ant and Dec presenting all bar one series. Ant was replaced by Holly Willoughby in 2018 after taking a break from the show for personal reasons.
The success of the show led to the creation of I'm A Celebrity Australia, which was held in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.
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Its inaugural season in 2015 was won by England cricket legend Andrew Flintoff, who entered the jungle as a late arrival following his stint with Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League.
The show's chiefs were clearly keen on recruiting cricketers, as fearsome ex-Australia fast bowler Merv Hughes was also part of series one before the legendary Shane Warne was brought in for season two.
Warne entered a day after the rest of the camp, and perhaps surprisingly only finished fifth, lasting 40 days in the jungle.
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The spinner, who took 708 Test wickets throughout his cricket career, was granted an exemption from a strict rule that is enforced on both the UK and Australian shows.
Smoking is not permitted at all on either show, but Warne was given special slots to smoke away from the rest of the camp during each day.
That's according to co-host Chris Brown, who told KIIS FM in 2023: "There's rules for Warnie and there's rules for everyone else.
"No-one else has ever got the privileges that Warnie got.
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"He is the only one that has ever been able to have special Warnie time."
Warne was a heavy smoker throughout much of his cricket career, and smoked for most of his life.
After retiring from international cricket following the 2006/07 Ashes series, Warne returned to England to play for Hampshire before transitioning into a successful broadcast career both in the UK and in Australia.
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He passed away aged 52 in March 2022 after suffering a heart attack while on holiday in Thailand.
News Corp later reported that his cause of death was coronary artery atherosclerosis, a health condition relating to the build-up of plaque within the heart which can lead to a heart attack.
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