Noel Edmonds arrived in the jungle tonight as emperor of the camp before overseeing a series of unpleasant Bushtucker trials.
The television presenter, 69, greeted the I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! contestants from a Colosseum-inspired balcony in the pouring rain, jokingly announcing himself with the words: “Hail! Literally, and rain.”
Host Declan Donnelly appeared, telling the group Edmonds would be assuming the privileged role of emperor, meaning he would be exempt from camp work.
Donnelly also revealed Edmonds would be leading four unlucky gladiators through a pair of Roman-themed challenges.
Trial Tease: The fate of our Campmates now lies in the hands of a new Camp leader. All hail Noel Edmonds! 👑 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/OnUge0JQEC
— I'm A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 22, 2018
Edmonds got the camp to work straight away, announcing the name of the next Bushtucker trial as Unleash The Beast.
After a short deliberation, Edmonds chose pop singer Fleur East, actress Sair Khan, presenter Nick Knowles and The Vamps guitarist James McVey to take on his trials.
The skin-crawling set of challenges saw East and Khan face a cage infested with green ants, where they were tasked with moving a star along a thread using only their tongues.
The pair were ultimately successful, earning a star each.
Next up were Knowles and McVey, who found themselves inside another cage.
However, this time they were joined by a more diverse range of unpleasant insects in a challenge entitled Crittercus Maximus.
Why does it always start raining JUST as you finish work? 😂 #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/piIQ0vrfLk
— I'm A Celebrity… (@imacelebrity) November 22, 2018
As the pair stood side by side, rangers appeared, pouring buckets of critters over them.
The men writhed as five kilograms of mealworms, 5,000 crickets, 5,000 cockroaches, 20 scorpions and 20 spiders were unloaded from above. However, both men managed to stick it out and release their stars.
Clearly amused the plight of his gladiators, Edmonds said afterwards: “I thought it was wonderful, gritty and determined.”
The group won four stars collectively but in a twist Edmonds revealed those meals would go only to his inner circle, a select group he had not yet chosen.
After taking a moment to deliberate, he chose the women to accompany him for dinner.
He said: “I respect the bravery of the gladiators. I was actually going to choose the fastest performers.
“I thought that was the only fair way because all four did so incredibly well but I’m hoping the ladies will join us for dinner.”
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! continues on ITV.