Terrified TV veteran takes the Celebrity test

As a former BBC newsreader, Jan Leeming thought she could keep her cool in the most trying of circumstances.

But after being lowered into a mineshaft and confronted with scorpions, toads, rats and snakes, she thought again.

She ended up screaming to be hauled back up after fear got the better of her during I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Four-times-married Miss Leeming, 64, was the first contestant in the ITV reality show to undertake the Bushtucker Trial, in which they have to undergo unspeakable torments to find hidden stars which earn food for the camp.

Once in the mineshaft, she found the first cavern was full of scorpions but still managed to find her first star.

Slightly lower down came the second, which covered in green ants.

She abandoned the star which was surrounded by rats and another which was guarded by a snake.

She began to panic after finding cane toads in the next cavern below but still managed to get the star after throwing eight of the creatures out.

At this point she decided she had suffered enough and yelled: "Please get me out of here." But her nightmare was compounded when she dropped one of the stars back down the shaft – losing a meal in the process.

Proving she is a glutton for punishment, Miss Leeming had lunch with fellow-contestant David Gest, and had to put up with his shameless name-dropping after admitting Audrey Hepburn was her heroine.

"Audrey was a good friend of mine," said the impresario, who is involved in a bitter divorce battle with Liza Minnelli.

"Her son was my best friend – she used to cook for me. Liz Taylor, Bette Davis, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, they were all my closest friends. We used to get together once a week...all the greats."

Despite his contempt for his celebrity rivals, Gest admitted to being impressed when he saw a bikini-clad Myleene Klass taking a shower.

"She's just the bomb," he declared. "Her boyfriend is very lucky - she's a definite ten."