'I'm A Celebrity' 2022: Boy George wants to be King or Queen of Jungle

Boy George confessed he would love to be crowned King or Queen of the Jungle in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

The 61-year-old Karma Chameleon singer – real name George O'Dowd – admitted he would like to show his haters that people really do love him.

Appearing on the launch episode of the ITV reality show Boy George said: "It would be great if people vote me king or queen of the jungle. It'll show that people do love me!"

Read more: Boy George vows to 'be more queer' in defiant response to homophobic trolls

Although the 80s pop star admitted giving up his signature make-up would be hard.

He said: "If you'd have asked me 10 years ago if I'd go on TV with no make-up on, it wouldn't have happened."

In 2009 a High Court judge banned the Do You Really Want To Hurt Me singer from taking part in Celebrity Big Brother.

The singer was on probation at the time, on charges of assault and false imprisonment, and conditions of his licence included restricting him to "permanently reside" at an address approved by his probation officer.

The launch episode of the new series saw Boy George, Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, Love Island's Olivia Attwood and A Place In The Sun presenter Scarlette Douglas learn they had been chosen to be VIPs – which stood for Very Isolated People – and spent their first night sleeping on bare camp beds on an island.

Meanwhile, rugby player and minor Royal Mike Tindall, former Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver and Hollyoaks actor Owen Warner took on the first Star Challenge of the series to earn food for the camp, facing spiders, cockroaches and mealworms to find codes to unlock the stars.

Tindall, who is married to the late Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips, introduced himself to camera saying, "I'm probably known best for being part of the England rugby team."

He admitted he does get hungry easily but added: "I'll eat anything even if it tastes s**t. Can I say s**t? I'm going to say it."

They joined Loose Women’s Charlene White, comedian Babatunde Aleshe, and Lioness footballer Jill Scott in the camp for the first night of the show.

Hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly were delighted to be starting the show back in Australia, after two series filming at Gwrych Castle in north Wales due to restrictions around travel caused by the pandemic.

The former health secretary Matt Hancock has not yet appeared on the show.

Read more: I'm A Celebrity 2022: Ant and Dec welcome Matt Hancock to jungle

He is entering the camp late as a 'surprise' celebrity guest, but has already given an interview to The Sun newspaper about his decision to sign up to the ITV show while still a serving MP.

Watch: Chris Moyles reveals how he has been getting ready for I'm A Celebrity