Brendan O'Carroll doesn't hold back on why he turned down I'm a Celebrity

Mrs Brown's Boys cast
Mrs Brown's Boys star Brendan O'Carroll has said no to the jungle! (Image credit: BBC)

Mrs Brown's Boys star and creator Brendan O'Carroll won't be appearing on any reality programmes any time soon, and that also goes for ITV's I'm A Celebrity!

With I'm A Celebrity 2023 expected to land at the end of the year, everyone is desperate to find out which brave stars will be taking on the dreaded Bushtucker Trials this time around.

But one celebrity we can certainly rule out is Brendan O'Carroll, who has recently revealed he has no interest in taking part in the series, citing his age as one of the key reasons for turning down offers.

He told the Daily Star:  "I get asked to do those shows all the time… f*** yeah. Jesus. But I say no to them all.

"You get some really weird ones. Sometimes people pitch me a reality show and they haven’t even got a broadcaster yet. They think getting me on board will help them get it commissioned. But I have to disappoint them."

He added: "With some of the offers, I’ve said, ‘Are you f***ing serious?’ I was asked to do a show for Irish TV where I’d get SAS-style training. You crawl through mud and stuff like that.

"I said, ‘You do know I’m f***ing 67? The last time I crawled through mud I was five years old. So f*** off!’"

Hosts Ant and Dec

Ant and Dec will not be tormenting Brendan O'Carroll any time soon... (Image credit: ITV)

Speaking about I'm A Celebrity, Brendan revealed his frank response and explained people have stopped asking him after his initial rejection.

He said: “I was once talking to a producer and he asked me if I’d thought about doing I’m A Celebrity and I said, ‘I would rather put a hot needle through the eye of my c**k than do that show’. So now they know not to ask!"

There are plenty of rumoured names when it comes to this year's I'm A Celebrity line-up, and we won't have to wait much longer to find out who has been confirmed.

This year, EastEnders legend Danny Dyer, former Strictly Come Dancing pro Oti Mabuse and Dancing On Ice 2023 star The Vivienne are among those who might be entering the Australian jungle, but we'll have to be patient to find out for sure. 

I'm a Celebrity 2023 airs on ITV1 and ITVX later this year. 

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress