Wayne Rooney's ex-teammates predict he will 'snap' as soon as he gets hungry on I'm A Celeb

Wayne Rooney's pals have predicted he will 'snap' as soon as he gets hungry during his stay in the I'm A Celeb jungle.

The former footballer, 41, is among the famous faces heading to Australia to take part in the ITV reality series where celebs have to contend with terrifying Bushtucker Trials and creepy crawlies.

But it's the rations which Wayne's friends reckon will prove to be his greatest nemesis.  

During an appearance on The Good The Bad and The Football podcast, fellow former Manchester United player Nicky Butt said: 'I just want to see him flip. I want to see him snap on the jungle …No food, no sleep. Mosquito bites.

'He's going to snap. He's ready to snap, isn't he?... Either way it will be great. He will be funny. I think he could win it, you know.'

Another former Manchester United star Paul Scholes, added: 'That's what gets people the most angry, isn't it? Having no food … he's either going to be hilarious or he's going to flip his lid. He could bang [hit] someone.'

Actor James Nelson-Joyce - who is also friends with Wayne - revealed the former sports star has already cut out coffee ahead of his stint in I'm A Celeb in a bid to avoid suffering from caffeine withdrawal on the show, explaining: 

'Well he's cut the coffee out hasn't he? He told me. He said: "I've not had caffeine for weeks".'

Nicky revealed he'd also spoken to Wayne ahead of his trip to Australia and the star confessed he was going to attempt to smuggle some pepper into the camp to improve the taste of meals.

Nicky shared: 'I said: "What are you going to take in?" He said: "Er, white pepper. I'm gonna put it in my band here [in my trousers] and I'm gonna tip it out like that". And I thought: "You'll get caught!"'

Paul went on to insist Wayne has a good chance of winning the show but it'll be any social media stars in the line-up which will be his biggest competition: 

'I think he will win it. The only trouble you get those YouTubers and streamers and they get millions of votes.'

Wayne and YouTuber Sharky (Sharmarke Mohamud) were the first stars to touch down at Brisbane Airport on Monday morning ahead of this year's series.

Wayne is following in the footsteps of his wife Coleen Rooney, who finished as runner-up on I'm A Celebrity in 2024.

The Mail on Sunday revealed that Wayne has already bonded with Love Island star Chloe Burrows ahead of entering camp.

The Manchester United star and reality icon struck up an unlikely bond when they played in the charity football match, Soccer Aid.

A source said: 'Chloe and Wayne bonded over their I'm A Celebrity booking back in May when they played in Soccer Aid together.

'Talks were well underway for the show at that time, so they both knew they were heading into the jungle. They were on the same team and got along really well.

'It's nice that they already have that connection going in.'

'They had a catch-up about how they were both feeling about the show, and it will be great to watch their friendship grow even more once they're in camp.'