CARL Fogarty's gutsy East Lancashire spirit shone through even in the depths of the Australian jungle as he emerged victorious from a slithery bushtucker trial.

The superbike champ spent 12 minutes strapped to the bottom of a water drain with 40 frisky snakes slithering over him to win his camp mates all six available meals in the first trial of the I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! series.

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Fearless Foggy, from Blackburn, said: "I feel quite calm but... Get out of my shorts, not there, you slime... How many more can you get in here?

"I thought racing bikes was hard... ," he pleaded as another snake slid up his shorts.

After leaving the water drain victorious, he felt what appeared to be one last snake still wriggling in his pants.

Millions tuned in to ITV to see Carl and nine other celebrities trade in their five-star lifestyles for the jungle experience.

The four-time world champion and MBE told the cameras he wasn't a fan of 'other people', and openly laughed when The Only Way Is Essex star Gemma Collins burst into tears while sitting in a helicopter awaiting take-off.

As the chopper began accelerating, Gemma started crying and, with mascara running down her cheeks, she begged to be let off.

She pleaded: “Can you stop a minute please? I’m serious, just stop. I need to get out. Seriously, I’m going to be sick. I can’t do it, no way.”

All the time, Foggy was sitting in the back struggling to contain his laughter.

In a new twist, the contestants were split into two groups before heading into the jungle. Carl was amongst those held in a small area in the jungle with prison-style bars and no beds.

The other group of celebrities enjoyed a final gourmet breakfast and were later told they could rescue one of their camp mates from the jungle jail.

Ex-footballer Jimmy Bullard convinced the group that they should choose Fogarty, saying: "We need someone courageous. I'm starving. This geezer's done some serious stuff in his life."

And after winning the six meals, Foggy chose to take them with him rather than send them to the celebrity slammer, leaving jailbird Gemma threatening to leave the show due to hunger.