I’m A Celeb medic has revealed grim reason 2024 contestants must wear red socks

With the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! stars arriving in Australia, they’ll be getting themselves geared up to enter the jungle.

And with that comes the typical Bushtucker Trials, the meals of rice and beans, and, apparently, the absolute need to wear red socks.

Yep, according to a medic on the ITV show, there’s a pretty grim reason why the likes of Coleen Rooney and Maura Higgins will be wearing the thick things when I’m A Celeb starts this weekend.

They’ll also be joined by stars such as Melvin Odoom, GK Barry, and Oti Mabuse in this year’s whopper line-up.

The red socks are a must. (ITV)

Every year, the celebs wear those classic outfits, but it turns out the red socks aren’t necessarily just a uniform thing.

Bob McCarron worked on the show for years before hanging up his stethoscope, and he previously told Woman’s Own that the socks are actually to cover up blood splatters from the many and varied blood-sucking critters that live in the jungle.

Basically, one of the pitfalls of being on the show is that you will get bitten, you will pick up cuts and bruises, and the crew simply don’t want the celebs to look too much like they’ve been through the wars.

Brutal.

Also donning the red socks and appearing on the show this year are McFly star Danny Jones, Corrie actor Alan Halsall, and Radio 1 DJ Dean McCullough.

Tulisa will also be making her TV comeback by taking part in I’m A Celeb as she returns following a long health battle.

Alan Halsall joins the line-up. (ITV)

Apparently, Tulisa has been approached for the show for a while, but 'she's never wanted to consider it'. But now, a decade since she left The X Factor, and off the back of an N-Dubz tour, it seems like the right time.

Before it was officially confirmed who was appearing in the show, TikToker GK Barry told reporters in Australia she was there ‘to go to a retreat’ and just be at ‘one with nature’.

McCullough comically said he was Down Under to ‘pick up two koalas’ he’s adopted, named ‘Anthony and Declan’.

The BBC Radio 1 DJ was asked if he’d be worried about any snakes or spiders, and responded: “I'm alright, I have dealt with enough snakes in my life. It's not the snakes you need to be worried about."

I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! starts on Sunday 17 September at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.