Matthew Wright: 'I'm doing I'm a Celebrity to deal with my phobias'

Matthew Wright has said he is going on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! to get over his fear of heights and a phobia of spiders.

The 48-year-old talk show host said he wanted to get professional help before heading out to the jungle for the hit ITV show, but was told he did not have enough time.

He said: "I have a terror of spiders and based on the fact that I have seen every I'm A Celebrity so far, I will say, hand on heart, you have never seen anyone quite as frightened of spiders than me."

He added: "I don't need to do the show for job reasons. I am doing the show to deal with my issues.

"It's not just spiders. I have a fear of heights, I don't like creepy crawlies and I am quite a fearful person underneath my tough, journalistic exterior.

"It's getting worse as I am getting older. I have to put a stop to it and this is my decision."

Matthew is not the only one of the show's 10 contestants to admit being scared of the creepy crawlies that regularly feature in the show's bushtucker challenges.

Fashion designer David Emanuel, reality star Joey Essex, former EastEnder Laila Morse and Alfonso Ribeiro from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air all admit to a fear of creepy crawlies.

But US actor Alfons, who starred opposite Will Smith in the hit sitcom, admitted he was more worried about missing his baby son who was only born a few weeks ago.

He said: "I am going to miss them a tonne. I love being a dad. My little guy is just a ball of strength and energy and I can already tell he is going to be something."

The other contestants in the show, which starts on Sunday, are Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington, snooker player Steve Davis, singer Kian Egan, actress Lucy Pargeter and model Amy Willerton.

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.