Kemp

The household name should prove a hit with ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here viewers after his many decades in the public eye and hugely successful career

A huge TV and pop icon from the ’80s is in ‘advanced talks’ to appear on this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

Martin Kemp is poised to become the first star to join I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here as the second member of a family to have the jungle experience. The Spandau Ballet star is in “advanced talks” to join the hit ITV show when it launches next month.

And he’ll be following in the footsteps of his radio presenter son, Roman, who took part back in 2019. One insider said: “Martin is a household name having been top of the hit parade with Spandau Ballet in the 80s and then in EastEnders in the early 2000s – he’s a great signing and everyone is very excited at the prospect of getting him Down Under.”

One person who’ll be particularly thrilled is Roman himself, 32, who told the Mirror a couple of years ago that he’d be “very up” for his famous dad to take part.

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When Roman did it, he lasted the full 22 days and finished in third place, behind Corrie star Andy Whyment and winner Jacqueline Jossa.

But along the way he tackled some pretty tricky Bushtucker Trials – for which he held his dad partially responsible after he urged the public to nominate his son.

“Listen, I would do anything to see my dad eat llama anus,” Roman told the Mirror in 2022. “I’ll tell you why, because when I got nominated the first time it was the eating trial,” he recalled. “When you’re in there, you get so paranoid about why people are voting for you, because you’re like ‘am I coming across as a d*** and people want to see me suffer’?

“When I got out I was looking through some of the headlines, and it turns out the only reason I got voted to do that trial at the beginning was because my dad tweeted: ‘Let’s get my son to eat kangaroo anus’. So, my God, I’m very up for him going in.”

Once Martin arrives in the jungle, there will be a Kemp TV takeover in Britain with him on ITV alongside hosts Ant and Dec and his kids Roman and elder sister Harley Moon competing on BBC1’s Race Across the World from next week.

And Martin, who is a regular on Celebrity Gogglebox with Roman, will also be following his old bandmate Tony Hadley, who competed on the show in 2015, finishing in sixth place.

The singer of hits including True, Gold and To Cut a Long Story Short, afterwards described his jungle experience as “one of the best things I’ve ever done” despite his endless conflict with fellow contestant Lady Colin Campbell, who took an instant dislike to him.

Martin, 64, married to former Wham backing singer Shirley Holliman, is unlikely to ask Hadley for tips, after the rest of the Spandau members fell out with the lead singer when he quit the band in 2017.

Hadley told the Mirror earlier this year that he and Martin’s brother Gary – the band’s songwriter – were unlikely to work together again. “I haven’t spoken to him in 10 years. I don’t have anything to do with the Spandau thing at all,” he said.

This came after Gary claimed, in 2021, that he and Tony had never been mates “even at school”. But Martin has always remained hopeful about the possibility of a reunion, saying a few years ago: “It’s something I would love to do and I know Gary would love to do it. It’s very difficult to get five adults to say ‘yes’ at the same time. Tony at the moment doesn’t want to do it and I understand his reasons for wanting to be a solo singer.”

I’m a Celebrity is expected to start on ITV on November 16 with other camp-mates likely to include Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley and ex- EastEnder Shona McGarty plus radio host Nick Ferrari, comedian Ruby Wax, model Kelly Brook and presenter Vogue Williams.

A show spokesman said the official announcement would come soon, adding: “Any names suggested for I’m A Celebrity are speculation.”

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MARTIN Kemp has given his followers an update on his health after his horror chainsaw accident, as he reveals whether his gigs will be still taking place.

The iconic singer, 65, worried fans when his radio star son Roman Kemp revealed his famous father had been rushed to hospital.

Giving fans an update on how he was doing following the accident. which saw him injure his fingers, Martin said: “Addressing Hey guys, just a little message.

“You might have seen in the paper that I had a terrible accident with a chainsaw, which I did, but it was last week.

“I’m a lot better now.”

Reassuring fans he wasn’t cancelling any gigs, Martin said: “And just to let you know, if you were worried and you are going to Lincoln Cathedral tonight for the DJ gig, right, it is still on.

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“Yeah, but I appreciate your concerns and listen, it’s getting better by the minute, but I will explain how it happened another time, but just to reassure you, I am alright.

“Alright, lots of love. Bye.”

Yesterday, his son Roman shared the news about his dad’s hospital dash.

He explained on the You About podcast with Tom Grennan that his dad had had an accident with a chainsaw. 

The star said it was lucky that his dad wasn’t “fingerless” after the incident, which saw Martin pick the chainsaw up by the blade, to cut down a piece of wood.

The chat began with music star Tom saying to Roman: “What the hell has happened to your dad’s fingers?”

“Oh God,” Roman said, and then added: “It’s scary. Friday night I’d just finished work and looked at my phone, and dad sent a picture of his hand with all fingers heavily strapped up.

“And all he writes underneath in the family WhatsApp group is ‘yep… chainsaw.’”

Roman continued: “I was texting him saying ‘what?!’ but got no reply, and then Harley my sister is like ‘what’s happened?’ but again, no reply.

“So he said ‘Oh there was a bit of the branch that we wanted chopping down so I went and got a chainsaw.”

Roman said his first issue with what had happened was that his dad was handling a chainsaw in the first place.

“He’s 65. He’s got more than enough dough. Get a professional in, you can’t be doing that,” Roman said.

He then added: “My dad said ‘Oh yeah I picked it up by the blade.”

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Tom then joked that Roman’s mum wouldn’t be very happy if his dad lost his fingers, leaving Roman visibly shocked.

Roman then quipped: “Yeah because he wouldn’t be able to play guitar, exactly.”

The One Show hosts Roman Kemp and Clara Amfo spoke to England Lioness Lucy Bronze and Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts on Thursday’s show.

BBC The One Show hosts Roman Kemp and Clara Amfo welcomed two special guests onto Thursday evening’s programme (August 28).

The show, which recently featured JB Gill chatting with two EastEnders stars about an upcoming on-screen reunion, saw the BBC presenters invite England Lioness Lucy Bronze and Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts onto the famous green sofa.

But before the interviews got underway, Roman didn’t hesitate to pose a unique question to Lucy from a viewer – something he revealed had never happened before.

He explained: “I’ve got to say, we’ve been inundated with questions, I actually- this is probably a first. I’ve never been asked this question to a guest straight from a viewer.

“Gillian has gone straight in. How is your leg? I don’t think that’s ever been asked on here before! But how is it?”

Chuckling, the football star quipped that there was a first time for everything, reports Wales Online.

She responded: “Yeah, it’s doing better. Obviously, playing with it wasn’t going to help it, it wasn’t going to heal it. So, time is a healer isn’t it? I’m giving myself a few weeks to get better.”

Roman explained her injury to audiences – a fractured tibia – which he admitted sounded like ‘hell on earth’.

He questioned the England star about how severe the pain was during matches and how she managed to persuade boss Sarina Wiegman to let her continue playing.

Lucy revealed there was no convincing needed as she was determined to feature in the match.

She said: “It was like, ‘Ok, we need to look after you Lucy, we ned to make sure that you’re doing the right things’.

“I was like, I will, I know what I’m doing. So it was a lot of pain to manage and things like that but, our medical team are fantastic.

“Serena was really good, yeah I’ve had pain in my body for a number of years because of other injuries so what’s one more thing? Just get on with it.”

During their conversation, Lucy was stunned by a video message from teammate Chloe Kelly, who commended her for battling through her injury.

The One Show is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.