After she threatened to withdraw from I’m A Celebrity for a second time, Gemma Collins’ make-up artists took extreme measures to keep her calm after she started to panic
10:10, 24 Mar 2026Updated 10:10, 24 Mar 2026
Gemma Collins had to be slapped by her make-up artist hours before flying to South Africa (Image: David Fisher/Shutterstock)
Gemma Collins received a slap to the face after losing her cool at the airport as she prepared to head off for the new series of I’m A Celebrity All Stars.
The jungle spin-off will return to screens on April 6, with Harry Redknapp, Sir Mo Farah, Scarlett Moffatt, Adam Thomas, David Haye, Seann Walsh, Ashley Roberts, Craig Charles, Beverley Callard, Sinitta and Jimmy Bullard all joining the TOWIE star for another round of Bushtucker Trials.
Twelve years after she famously quit the jungle after just three days, Gemma’s return did not get off to a smooth start. The 45-year-old revealed she nearly pulled out again before finding her composure to take part in I’m A Celebrity: South Africa, which was filmed last year.
She quit after three days 12 years ago – and nearly bailed before the show this time(Image: ITV)
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She told Best magazine: “I was absolutely bricking it, I was petrified. My make-up artist slapped me at Heathrow Airport because I actually sat there and I went, ‘Oh my God, I don’t think I can actually go through this this!”
But her nerves didn’t stop once she landed. Gemma went on: “I was petrified but I took a deep breath, I went in strong and, to be honest, I think I shut it down. When you watch me, I’m not being funny – I shut it down! It’s not the GC in there, it’s Gemma Collins as you’ve never seen her before.”
She is heading back to I’m A Celeb in an attempt to redeem herself after her last disastrous stint. Gemma claimed she had malaria and had a panic attack before being flown out of the camp, but later said she wanted to give it another go. “Everything would be different a second time,” she said. “I’d be like Lara Croft and Angelina Jolie rolled into one, and I’d do the tasks. I’m not scared of nothing. Hopefully one day the producers may give me another chance.”
Gemma is said to have had a row with a campmate after the show(Image: Getty Images)
The drama didn’t stop at the airport. Gemma is reportedly at the centre of a new celebrity feud before the programme has even aired. According to sources, she has accused her campmate Sinitta of leaking stories about her to the media. It’s thought The GC made the allegations on an All Stars contestants’ group WhatApp, leaving the eighties pop star “dumbfounded and incredibly upset”
An insider told The Sun: “A few weeks back, out of nowhere, she dropped a message into the group WhatsApp chat accusing someone of leaking stories about her to the Press. And before anyone could even tap out a reply, she accused Sinitta of being the rat.
“It was like Wagatha Christie all over again. No one in the group could believe what they were reading. No one replied. Basically, it put a massive cloud over what had been a rather jolly group.
“Some of the celebs in the chat rallied to Sinitta because they felt it was unnecessary to make such an accusation in a group setting.”
Talking about her experience, Gemma said: “It really grounds you again going in there. You just go back to simplicity. It breaks you in ways you’ve never been broken before. I left, literally, some trials broken to an inch of my life. I just can’t describe the pain I felt.”
“You’ll see me vulnerable in there. I was so stripped bare going in there. And because I knew it was so disastrous the time before, I had no chance to back out of any of it.”
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