Nigel Havers calls I’m a Celeb appearance ‘big mistake’ and admits he wanted to ‘kill’ another contestant

Nigel Havers has admitted his time in the I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! jungle was a “big mistake” and revealed he wanted to “kill” another contestant while filming the series.

The 73-year-old actor, best known for playing Lord Andrew Lindsay in Chariots of Fire, took part in the 2010 series of the ITV show but quit after refusing to complete a task that involved electric shocks.

“I'm not up for it, I don’t do electric shocks so I’m leaving. I cannot waste another second of my life,” Havers said as he exited the programme.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Havers was asked what “possessed” him to enter the I’m a Celebrity jungle.

“It was a big mistake,” he replied. “I’d never watched the show, so I had no idea what it entailed. You think it looks bad on TV. S***, it was terrible. It was the boredom more than anything.”

Havers shared the camp with other stars including Alison Hammond, Linford Christie, Gillian McKeith and the series’ eventual winner and former X Factor contestant, Stacey Solomon.

Reflecting on his least favourite campmate to cohabit with, Havers said: “There was a bloke called Lembit Öpik, the politician. After a couple of days, I wanted to kill him. Had I stayed, I would’ve killed him and I’d be in prison now. So it seemed like a good idea to leave.”

Back in 2018, Havers even detailed how he would have murdered the former leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats: “It was very simple, I was just going to strangle him in the night,” he joked.

Havers is not the only celebrity to have struggled with their time in the jungle. Following the most recent series, N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos revealed she spent the majority of the competition alone.

“I was really getting a little bit overwhelmed in there. So, I was probably the least around in camp,” she said.

“They had jokes like, ‘She’s gone to the Airbnb. She’ll be back,’” Contostavlos added. “You know, they’re like, ‘What are you doing?’ I’m like, ‘Bro, I’ve just been staring at a palm tree. I just needed a minute.’”