‘It changed my life’: Joe Pasquale reflects on his I’m A Celebrity stint

Joe Pasquale has said appearing on ‘I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!’ was a "life-changing moment".

The 63-year-old comedian won the fourth series of the ITV reality show back in 2004 and thinks the programme gave him the confidence to take on challenges in his life, even though he wasn't interested in signing up at first.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Joe said: "I said it’s not for me but I didn’t have a gig so I thought, what’s the worst that can happen?

"It changed my life. After that I jumped out of a plane. I thought, 'If I can do that, what else can I do?' It was definitely a life-changing moment."

During his stint in the jungle, the TV star faced a myriad of different trials, including being submerged in a tank full of rats and collecting flags from a helicopter rope ladder.

Joe continued: "If I think I’m scared of that, I’ll make sure I do it. It’s another reason for doing stand-up. It still scares me every time, but I enjoy that feeling you get. It’s the same feeling you get when you’re doing a parachute jump – when I feel the most alive."

Looking ahead to the upcoming series - which is set to include ‘Loose Women' panellist Jane Moore, ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ star Oti Mabuse and McFly singer Danny Jones - Joe revealed that he believed former boxing world champion Barry McGuigan had what it takes to become the next King of the Jungle as he has the "discipline" to cope with life in camp.

The squeaky-voiced star said: "He’s a nice bloke but, most of all, he has discipline. You must control your emotions out there, whether it be anger or frustration.

"Barry will be used to hunger, with his training schedule he would have had to do extreme diets."