As a Corrie legend she was well known for her leopard print, but that’s as close as this star will be getting to the jungle this year.
Julie Goodyear, who played iconic landlady of The Rovers Return Bet Lynch, turned down the chance to appear on ITV’s Australia-set reality series I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, and it wasn’t because of the bugs.
No, Julie, who smokes 100 cigarettes a day, decided not to take ITV bosses up on the lucrative offer because she couldn’t face the 23-hour plane journey without smoking.
Julie, 75, did suggest that she could travel by cargo ship to get around the issue, but, with the 40 day trip costing up to £4,000 each way, producers were understandably reluctant to allow it.
The astonishing revelation comes in new book Reality Rehab, written by former I’m A Celeb producer Lisa Mary London.
According to The Daily Star Sunday, Lisa says she couldn’t believe it when Julie called her in person to suggest the epic journey.
“Soap legend Julie Goodyear frustrated me when she rang in person to say she’d love to do the show if we could get her to Australia by boat,” she says.
“A 23-hour flight without frequent cigarette breaks was out of the question for the chain-smoking soap diva.”
Read more: Handsome stranger with a big connection to Bet Lynch to shake up Coronation Street
Julie has famously appeared on other reality TV shows after leaving Corrie, where she last appeared in 2003 following a 25-year period on screen.
In 2010 she made a memorable appearance on a Coronation Street-themed edition of Celebrity Come Dine With Me, before she joined the housemates of Celebrity Big Brother in 2012.
Julie even reappeared on Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year as part of a task set up for Coleen Nolan.
I’m A Celebrity will return to ITV in November hosted by Ant and Dec, but, as ever, there has been no confirmation of who will be taking part just yet.
Read More: Emmerdale star refuses I’m A Celebrity
Rumoured names so far include former Geordie Shore star Charlotte Crosby, ex-Strictly pro James Jordan, former Corrie star Craig Charles (making a second appearance in the jungle) and even Katie Hopkins, but nothing is set in stone just yet.
One thing is for sure though, unless she’s already on her way (with plenty of cigarettes), we won’t be seeing Julie taking a shower in her leopard- print bikini!