Is Boris Johnson joining I’m a Celebrity 2023? Former PM who resigned in disgrace in running for the jungle

It was obvious that Boris Johnson wouldn’t leave public life just because he had stepped down as an MP. Like a bad rash, or that friend of a friend at a party, he seems to have a knack for overstaying his welcome.

In fact, the day after a report found that Johnson had repeatedly lied to the House of Commons over Partygate, he was announced as a new Daily Mail columnist, on a £1 million contract.

Apparently showing disdain for his new employers, he used his first byline to write about a weight loss drug that failed to stop his nightly fridge raids for cheddar and chorizo.

It could have been worse - he could have blamed the drug for causing him to lie to the Commons, in the same way that Roseanne Barr infamously blamed her racist tweets on the sleeping pill Ambien.

Just weeks after Johnson was revealed as the Mail’s new contrarian in chief, the blonde bombast is now rumoured to be taking a leaf out of his former health secretary’s book, with a trip to the jungle for I’m a Celebrity 2023 potentially on the cards.

Is Boris Johnson joining I’m a Celebrity 2023?

The cast of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! 2023 has not yet been confirmed, but Johnson is among those rumoured to be taking part. According to betting site OLBG, Johnson has been given 6/1 odds to be part of the series later this year.

It may sound fanciful, but a quick look at earlier contestants suggests that the casting is not as unlikely as it first sounds. For starters, Johnson’s own dad, Stanley, took part in the show in 2017, coming in seventh place.

Margaret Thatcher's daughter Carol joined the series in 2005, and was even crowned Queen of the Jungle, suggesting that when it comes to the British voting public, there is no such thing as sanity.

One of Johnson’s most ardent (pathetic?) defenders, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries was on the series in 2012 - she lost the whip for her decision to take part without informing the Chief Whip.

Then, as you’ll likely be aware, disgraced Health Secretary Matt Hancock, headed to Australia last year, and came third in the competition. Hancock also lost the whip for his appearance, but his £400,000 salary for taking part on the show likely helped to ease the pain. To be totally fair to Hancock, he donated a whopping 3% of his after tax pay to charity. 

So Tory ministers and their families have form for joining the ITV reality show, but will the Trumpian terror really participate, after all he’s not the type to look daft on national television, fridge hiding on GMB excluded.

Ultimately, if Johnson were to consider taking part in the show, he would command a salary far higher than Hancock, and could be the most expensive celebrity ever on the series.

But Johnson would also have to consider that he would be the heavy favourite to take part in every trial that the public votes for, and his fellow campmates probably wouldn’t be too keen on spending all day every day with him, so there would be plenty of drama. 

Who else could be on I’m a Celebrity 2023?

Other stars tipped to be joining the series include former Italian jockey Frankie Dettori, who OLBG gave odds of 4/6 (60%) to appear. 

Former professional boxer Ricky Hatton, record producer Mike Dean, and English footballers Peter Crouch and Micah Richards, are also contenders to take part this year.

Last year’s campmates were not officially confirmed until October 2022, less than a month before the series started, so contestants on the 2023 series are unlikely to be revealed for several months.