Mike Tindall drank 'close to 50 lagers' on Australia flight to break legendary record

As he’s now back on screens as one of the stars of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, it might be time to revisit the time Mike Tindall claimed to have consumed nearly 50 cans of beer on a flight in an attempt to break a fellow sportsman’s record.

The first thing that we should cover is that it is not advisable to consume 50 cans of lager at any time, let alone when you are travelling on a plane from Australia to England.

It is a mitigating factor for Tindall that he had just won the rugby union World Cup.

Still, it bears repeating that you shouldn’t cut about consuming that much of anything, let alone alcohol.

If you try it on a Ryanair flight to Gran Canaria, then get ready for a diversion to another airport because you'll be legless, and claiming to have won a World Cup isn’t going to garner you much sympathy.

Now that is out of the way, on to the actual story.

AllStar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy

With Tindall now joining the likes of Boy George, Chris Moyles, Matt Hancock and – until she left earlier – Olivia Attwood in the jungle, it’s time for a look back at his trans-continental drinking efforts.

Back in 2003, Tindall and his teammates went on a victorious trip to Australia for the World Cup, which was won in dramatic circumstances against the host when Jonny Wilkinson kicked a vital drop goal.

The former rugby player had his own key moment in the match, picking up Australia’s skipper George Gregan and dumping him unceremoniously on the deck.

However, on their flight back, he decided that he wasn’t done taking things from the Aussies and tried to beat a record set in 1989 by Aussie cricketer David Boon.

On a flight from Sydney to London for a summer Ashes series, Boon is reputed to have drank 52 cans of beer.

ITV

Yes, that’s BEFORE the sporting action even kicked off.

However, in the end, teammate Will Greenwood claimed that he came up a little short, but not without a valiant effort.

Tindall was said to have consumed ‘close to 50 beers’ on the long flight.

Greenwood said: "You can rest assured David Boon's record is still standing,

"Tinds had a real go at it but we wanted to leave the Aussies with at least one title to hang on to."

Nice little dig there.

PA Images/Alamy

Perhaps even more impressive about Boon’s effort – if you can say anything about it is impressive – was the fact that he alighted the plane completely without help and seeming relatively lucid.

We’re not sure how Tindall managed it, but given that he was returning with the World Cup, few people probably cared that much.

We all remember what Freddie Flintoff did at Downing Street just a few years later, don’t we?

It can’t have been that bad.

Tindall is amongst the favourites to win this year’s I’m a Celebrity, so we’ll have to see how he behaves on his flight back if he does take home the crown.