EastEnders star Shane Ritchie has revealed that he is "so grateful" to be signed up for I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic has left him with months of no work.
Speaking out after his place among the camp members had been confirmed, 56-year-old Shane said, "We were going to fit it around my other work projects as I was going on tour, doing a TV series and panto but that all got cancelled in March."
CHECK OUT: EastEnders fans, you’ll LOVE these amazing throwback snaps from the stars of the soap
EastEnders fans, youu2019ll LOVE these amazing throwback snaps from the stars of the soap
1 of 13Jessie Wallace / Kat Moon's throwback photo
JESSIE WALLACE - AKA KAT MOON
2 of 13Jacqueline Jossa / Lauren Branning's throwback photo
LAUREN BRANNING - AKA JACQUELINE JOSSA
3 of 13Richard Blackwood / Vincent Hubbard's throwback
RICHARD BLACKWOOD - VINCENT HUBBARD
4 of 13James Bye / Martin Fowler's throwback
JAMES BYE - AKA MARTIN FOWLER
5 of 13Shona McGarty / Whitney Dean's throwback
SHONA MCGARTY - AKA WHITNEY DEAN
6 of 13Matt Di Angelo / Dean Wicks's throwback
MATT DI ANGEO - DEAN WICKS
7 of 13Jamie Borthwick / Jay Brown's throwback
JAMIE BORTHWICK - AKA JAY BROWN
8 of 13Maddy Hill / Nancy Carter's throwback
MADDY HILL - AKA NANCY CARTER
9 of 13natalie Cassidy & Patsy Palmer / Sonia Fowler and Bianca Butcher's throwback
NATALIE CASSIDY & PATSY PALMER - SONIA FOWLER & BIANCA BUTCHER
10 of 13Rita Simon & Samantha Womack / Roxy and Ronnie Mitchell's throwback
RITA SIMONS & SAMANTHA WOMACK - AKA ROXY AND RONNIE MITCHELL
11 of 13Harry Reid / Ben Mitchell's throwback
HARRY REID - AKA BEN MITCHELL
12 of 13Danniella Westbrook / Sam Mitchell's throwback
SAM MITCHELL - DANNIELLA WESTBROOK
13 of 13Adam Woodyatt
IAN BEALE - ADAM WOODYATT
He explained that he'd originally been asked to join the show back in January when it was set to be filmed in Australia.
"My kids were old enough to travel to Australia and they wanted to meet Ant and Dec! We were all really excited," he said.
But, what with his jobs being cancelled, Shane, who plays Eastenders' Alfie Moon, said, "And now I am literally skint. You save money for a rainy day but you don’t expect the rainy day to last six months.
“Thankfully I’ve been able to borrow money from mates, my family and the bank and my wife is now very happy we can finally pay off the credit card!"
He added that he's excited for the time away with some adults outside of his household with wife Christie Goddard and children Mackenzie Blue, 14, Lolita Bell, 12, and Romani-Skye Angel Shelley, nine.
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Shane will be joining the likes of Victoria Derbyshire and Giovanna Fletcher in the jung-, err, sorry, Welsh castle this year.
In regards to the challenges he will face, Shane said, "Six hundred calories a day is like a slice of cake on a Sunday. But I have got to go straight back in the West End to play a drag queen in a dress and so I will look great!"
Ummm, great is certainly one word for it...
I'm A Celebrity 2020 is set to go ahead amid Welsh lockdown restrictions after Gwrych castle Tweeted that, "Filming CAN continue in Wales providing related activity cannot be undertaken from home, and there is full compliance with Welsh law. We cannot wait to see I’m A Celebrity on our screens!"
Neither can we. If you need us on Sunday at 9pm, you know where we'll be.