Snails take over the celeb jungle

The motley collection of celebrity has-beens and nobodies currently battling out in the Australian jungle have some slimy competition.

11:13 23 November 2004

The motley collection of celebrity has-beens and nobodies currently battling out in the Australian jungle have some slimy competition.

As soon as the human version of I'm a Celebrity reaches its climactic crescendo, ten Giant African Land Snails will be rolled out for their time in the limelight.

Satellite channel UKTV G2 will begin screening I'm a ShellebrityKeep Me in Here! the day after its more famous cousin stops so that reality TV addicts can keep getting their daily fixes.

The group of gastropods will compete in events such as the 100m marathon, programme makers say, and will keep viewers glued to the screens with their slimy antics.

Each has been handpicked to portray a certain type of personality, with Slime-on Cowell, Carol Slimey, Snail Porter and Helen Baxensnail among the favourites to scoop the prize of a "luxury jungle-themed home".

The snails will spend their days in a converted fish tank that has been designed to mimic the jungle camp in Australia, enjoying its hammocks, ramps and bridges.

"The snails have individual personalities," said exotic pet consultant Mark Amey, who worked on the first series of I'm a Celebrity.

"Some are very active characters who speed around the place, while others are slower and content just to have a munch on cucumber.

"They're hermaphrodites so they're very prolific. Some of them can be more interesting than celebrities and they're certainly more adapted to jungle life."

The full list of Shellebrities:

Slime-on Cowell, Carol Slimey, Snail Porter, Helen Baxensnail, Snailey Thompson, Jimmy Snail, Slugless Hurd, Snail Winton, Mi-Shell Collins, Slicky Gervais.