Francis Rossi is reportedly being lined up for this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.
Show bosses are said to be keen on the 70-year-old Status Quo frontman appearing in the Australian jungle, and hope he can make a similar impact to last year’s winner, 72-year-old former football manager Harry Redknapp.
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A show source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “Francis would be the perfect successor to Harry. They are both Londoners with the gift of the gab and a wealth of brilliant anecdotes to tell.
“Francis has worked alongside all the greats and would win over a new generation of fans by appearing in the jungle.”
Ent Daily has contacted reps for I’m A Celebrity for comment.
Francis previously admitted he would’ve loved to have seen his late bandmate Rick Parfitt – who died in 2016 aged 68 – appear on the show, and believes he could’ve been crowned King of the Jungle.
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Speaking in 2004, he said: “Rick would have been the perfect campmate. Funny, lovable, much more famous than most of them and completely game for any trials. He’d have probably won it.”
Rick was due to appear in the programme 15 years ago but show bosses pulled the plug on his appearance because he was taking prescribed sleeping pills Rohypnol at the time.
This show will return later this year for its 19th season, and celebrity executive Micky Van Praagh recently revealed this year’s series is already taking shape.
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She said: “It’s very early days, but we’ve already started casting.
“I think we know what works. I think of our show as a comedy and so I’m looking for people who are funny and high energy as we know those types of things always work.
“But otherwise you want to do something completely different every year. You’re never looking for the next Harry Redknapp or the next John Barrowman or the next Fleur East. You’ve got to do something different.”
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