Comedian jets in to Australia

Shappi Khorsandi is taking part in this year’s I’m A Celebrity…

The comedian touched down in Brisbane today ahead of this year’s series of the ITV reality show. 

She will be leaving behind her two children, Genevieve. four, and Cassius, ten.

Khorsandi was previously approached to appear on the show, but cited the terror of being away from her children for too long as a reason for turning it down.

As she arrived at Brisbane airport, she played it coy with  reporters, saying: ' What jungle? I have been to the Melbourne Comedy Festival many times and I am pleased to be back.

But she added: 'I am all good with creepy crawlies and not scared of anything.'

And she explained: 'I am single so who knows. Maybe I will fall in love with a spider. My ideal man in there would be one who has snuck a mobile phone in.'

There may be some tension in the camp as Khorsandi has been critical of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, whose 77-year-old father Stanley is another of the contestants.

Nevertheless, she will be hoping to follow in the success of fellow comic Joel Dommett, whose career got a boost when he came runner-up last year.

Khorsandi, 44, is the daughter of the Iranian satirist Hadi Khorsandi, and the family fled Tehran when she was a child following the Islamic Revolution. 

She is president of the British Humanist Association and wrote her first novel, Nina is Not OK, last year, following her memoir A Beginner's Guide to Acting English the previous year. She has just announced her 2018 tour Mistress and Misfit.

The other contestants taking part this year are boxer Amir Khan, actors Jamie Lomas and Jenny McAlpine, singer Vanessa White, Made In Chelsea’s Georgina Toffolo, former footballer Dennis Wise, YouTube star Jack Maynard and footballer's wife Rebekah Vardy.

I’m A Celebrity will kick off at  9pm this Sunday, November 19, on ITV.

Published: 13 Nov 2017