I’m A Celebrity 2020: Ruthie Hensall becomes the second celebrity to be voted off the series

Ruthie Hensall became the second campmate to be eliminated from this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! during Sunday’s episode.

On her departure, the stage actress, 53, held back tears as she anticipated reuniting with her daughters Lily, 17, and Dolly, 15, stating: ‘I get to see my girls! As a mother you just think about the things you do wrong, not the things you do right.’ 

The remaining ten celebrities will continue to be evicted from the programme’s new location of Gwrych Castle in North Wales each night until the series finale on Friday, after parasport athlete Hollie Arnold was booted from the series earlier this week.  

She’s out! Ruthie Hensall became the second campmate to be eliminated from this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! during Sunday’s episode

The Cats star – who shares her children with her ex-husband, musician Tim Howar, 51 – detailed her short stint during an exit interview with hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, declaring: ‘That was brutal. I can already taste my burger.

‘You have absolutely no control in there, the rollercoaster of emotions is ridiculous. You start thinking about things that you haven’t thought about in years, but everyone is there is so delightful and there was a real camaraderie in there.’

The artist didn’t hold back by sharing revelations in the camp as she confessed to sleeping with ‘lovely bloke’ Prince Edward inside Buckingham Palace.

Admitting she didn’t believe she’d be candid on the series, the West End star said: ‘It was Shane [Richie]! He asked me all the questions. I thought I wouldn’t spill the beans. I felt like I was having a chat with a mate, but only afterwards you think of the ramifications.

‘I get to see my girls!’ On her departure, the stage actress, 53, held back tears as she anticipated reuniting with her daughters Lily, 17, and Dolly, 15

Bottom two: The media personality landed in the bottom two with Coronation Street’s Beverley Callard

‘That was brutal. I can already taste my burger!’ The Cats star detailed her short stint during an exit interview with hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly

Candid: ‘I felt that I go into the outside world and I’m Ruthie, and that’s not really totally who I am. I felt today the most myself than I have this whole time’, the Marguerite actress added

Tipped to take the crown? On who she’d love to win the 20th edition, the She Loves Me actress said: ‘I wish they all could, but G[iovanna Fletcher, pictured] has been amazing, I reckon Shane [Richie] will also [do well]’

First to leave: Parasport athlete Hollie Arnold was booted from the series earlier this week (pictured)

‘I felt that I go into the outside world and I’m Ruthie, and that’s not really totally who I am. I felt today the most myself than I have this whole time.’

Ruthie fought back emotion when she discussed her teenage children, sharing: ‘I’ve been a single mother for so long. You try to figure out how to deal with each situation and you wish there was someone to say, ”It’s alright, I’ll do it”. My emotions were completely on the surface. I’d say I’m emotional anyway, but… I’m so sorry [giggles].’

On who she’d love to win the 20th edition, the She Loves Me actress said: ‘I wish they all could, but G[iovanna Fletcher] has been amazing, I reckon Shane will also [do well].’

Elsewhere on the show, Victoria Derbyshire emerged victorious as she won nine stars for the camp in her first solo Trial, after being chosen over Russell Watson to take on the task.

The broadcaster, 52, was seen facing off against a host of creatures – including lizards, a python and wolf – as she collected stars in the Critter Clink Trial. 

Victoria arrived at the Trials area and told hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly that she felt ‘apprehensive, nervous, a bit scared also weirdly calm, perhaps on the verge of hysteria’.

The journalist said that the mood in camp was sad following Hollie’s departure, explaining: ‘Hollie’s gone so I’m going to do this for Hollie hopefully. It doesn’t feel right there not being 12.’ 

Victorious: Elsewhere on the show, Victoria Derbyshire emerged victorious as she won nine stars for the camp in her first solo Trial

Trial: The broadcaster, 52, was seen facing off against a host of creatures – including lizards, a python and wolf – as she collected stars in the Critter Clink Trial

Nervous: Victoria arrived at the Trials area and admitted that she felt ‘apprehensive, nervous, a bit scared also weirdly calm, perhaps on the verge of hysteria’

The journalist continued: ‘I haven’t done a Trial on my own, I want to contribute, hopefully get some Trials for food, I want to challenge myself, I want to see how I get on versus the Trial.’

Ant described what she had to do, saying: ‘Hidden in the prison are 11 stars. Each star is protected by a castle critter. You must collect the star from the large animal protecting the prison.

‘Then you can retrieve the keys from the warden’s office. Once you have these keys, you use them to open the locks in whatever order you want, then you’ll be able to retrieve the remaining stars.’ 

Victoria entered the first room of the prison where she was met by the warden holding a wolf. ‘Hello my darling, hello gorgeous,’ she said as she approached the wolf, gently retrieving a star from its collar.

Gruelling: She spoke with hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly ahead of the gruelling Task

Contribute: The star said, ‘I haven’t done a Trial on my own, I want to contribute, hopefully get some Trials for food, I want to challenge myself, I want to see how I get on versus the Trial’

Lots of manoeuvring: She had to manoeuvre around a long list of ‘critters’ to obtain each key

Stars in her eyes: During her Trial, journalist Victoria was competing for a total of 11 stars

This entitled her to enter the warden’s office where she would find a set of keys. She methodically moved around various doors until she found the warden’s office, a cage with pigeons inside.

She rummaged through jackets in an attempt to find a bunch of keys, then saw them attached to a wire. She slowly manoeuvred them around the wire, which meant she could continue and move on to the next stage of the Trial.

Each key was numbered, which corresponded with a number on various doors, trapdoors and barrels. She went to the first barrel, unlocked it and unscrewed a star which was protected by millipedes.

Gorgeous: When she encountered a warden holding a wolf, Victoria said, ‘Hello my darling, hello gorgeous,’ as she approached the wolf, gently retrieving a star from its collar

Count: At the end of her task, Victoria counted out her stars, learning she had collected nine

Mother-of-two Victoria discovered toads as she unlocked the second barrel and unscrewed another star. She then unlocked a trap door to climb into a chamber to retrieve another star, this time guarded by frilled lizards. She unscrewed the star and placed it in her bag.

The next trapdoor revealed a cage which Victoria had to crawl into. It contained a Burmese python. Again she retrieved the star.

There was one barrel left for Victoria to unlock but she chose to go into another room which contained three cages all of which were full of offal.

She slowly and methodically went through the offal, but couldn’t find a star so unlocked another trapdoor and climbed in to find the chamber contained snakes. She carefully unscrewed the star. 

Emotional: ‘Your heart aches!’ Meanwhile, Giovanna broke down in tears as she missed out on receiving a gift from home

Heartbroken: The blogger, 35, admitted her ‘heart aches’ as she, AJ Pritchard and Jordan North were the only campmates to not hear back from their loved ones

Challenges: The episode kicked off with Giovanna informing her celebrity co-stars that they could win treats from home, as well as a hearty meal for the evening

The star unlocked another door which covered a chamber containing scorpions. She crawled in and unscrewed a star.

And then returned back to the barrels, unlocked the lid of one and plunged her hand into the water which contained eels – and a star.

The next room contacted a crow, and she retrieved another star before returning to the offal as the time ran out.  

On achieving a nine-star total, Victoria said: ‘I would have liked to have got 11 obviously or 10, so 9’s going to have to do. I’m going to be a little bit proud of myself.’  

Impressive: EastEnders’ Jessica Plummer, BBC Radio 1 star Jordan and tenor Russell Watson were chosen to take on The Keys and The Dragon, with the group scoring all 10 keys

Tricky: Giovanna joined former Strictly professional AJ, soap star Shane and Corrie’s Beverley for The Lion and The Serpent, which saw them face an air hockey table

Task: Presenter Vernon Kay, actress Ruthie, runner Mo Farah and Victoria were next up as they manoeuvred keys along a raised wobble board in pairs

Unfortunate: If the stars found a treat in their boxes, they had to nominate who would also receive theirs, while an empty box meant the key was lost, but the author failed to get chosen

Meanwhile, Giovanna broke down in tears as she missed out on receiving a gift from home. Becoming emotional, the blogger, 35, admitted her ‘heart aches’ as she, AJ Pritchard and Jordan North were the only campmates to not hear back from their loved ones after completing three challenges together.

The camp leader, who shares sons Buzz, six, Buddy, four, and Max, two, with husband Tom, said in the Telegraph: ‘How lovely would it be to hear from Tom and the boys, just a sentence? 

‘Your heart aches and then you attach yourself to anything… it’s a sentence and I’m going to pretend each sentence anyone gets is from the kids and I’m going to adopt them like they’re mine.’

The episode kicked off with Giovanna informing her celebrity co-stars that they could win treats from home, as well as a hearty meal for the evening. 

Unfortunate: The podcast star was comforted by Victoria, who had received a gift

Close: The group stood together to hear from their nearest and dearest, before tucking into dinner

The stars were tasked with challenges to win keys to open boxes – with only some of the objects containing access to dinner and treats from home. 

EastEnders’ Jessica Plummer, BBC Radio 1 star Jordan and tenor Russell were chosen to take on The Keys and The Dragon, in which they received all 10 keys for transferring water into containers in a boat by using oars and a leaky bucket.  

Giovanna joined former Strictly professional AJ, soap star Shane and Corrie’s Beverley Callard for The Lion and The Serpent, which saw them face an air hockey table.

The pucks positioned on the large shield contained keys, with the group being required to use another set of plain tools to knock them into a hole. 

So sweet: Radio star Vernon, 46, got to enjoy a reminder of his family when he received a letter from wife Tess Daly, 51, and their daughters Phoebe, 16, and Amber, 11

Gifts from home: Vernon took a keen interest in Shane’s package from his family as he was sent chocolate by his beloved wife Christie Goddard

‘It looked easier than I thought’, comedian Shane, 56, joked, before Beverley, 63, added: ‘50% success, 50% failure’ as they only managed to retrieve five out of 10 keys. 

Presenter Vernon Kay, actress Ruthie, runner Mo Farah and journalist Victoria were next up as they worked in pairs to manoeuvre keys along a raised wobble board. 

Mo, 37, and Ruthie teamed up to scoop two keys, while TV stars Vernon, 46, and Victoria won five keys.    

The campmates took keys from the bucket to open a box, with a star equalling a meal. If the stars found a treat in their boxes, they had to nominate who would also receive theirs, while an empty box meant the key was lost. AJ earmarked goodies for Mo and then to Jessica, while Russell nominated one to Ruthie.

TV icon Beverley noted that the process was ‘really, really bitter sweet’, while Vernon admitted it was hard to watch Giovanna’s reaction.

Have a sniff: The former ITV star also held another parcel under AJ’s nose, letting him enjoy the gift after not getting his own present to open

The media personality said: ‘As the process went on and the boxes became fewer and the treats from home became less she realised that there was an opportunity to not be given a message from loved ones and that’s when it really hit home.’ 

Vernon got to enjoy a reminder of his family when he received a sweet letter from wife Tess Daly, 51, and their daughters Phoebe, 16, and Amber, 11. 

Victoria read out the touching note, which revealed that the radio star’s relatives were very proud of him and came with some giant chocolate buttons. 

They said in the heart-warming message: ‘Remember you said you just wanted to make your girls proud, well we’re watching every night and we are so proud!’

‘Thank you for this and the chocolate buttons, it means so much’, the former model said in the Telegraph as he narrowly avoided crying. 

The father-of-two appeared very pleased with his letter and gift as the camp all shared their tokens together. He then read a note out for Mo from his family.

The athlete – who received jelly sweets – appeared in great spirits as he listened to his relatives’ kind words, which read: ‘Although we’re used to you being away from home, it makes a big change from you running around in circles. We all look forward to seeing you soon.’  

Result! Former Neon Jungle singer Jessica seemed very pleased with her note and chocolate from her parents

Thespian Shane was sent chocolate by his beloved wife Christie Goddard, who said: ‘I love you so much and I’m so blooming proud of you.’

The actor got to read a note for Ruthie from her daughters, who gifted her with cheese and onion crisps and said: ‘We love you so much and you’re always be our inspiration for all our lives. We are the luckiest daughters in the world.’

Beverley also received a note and cookies from her husband Jon McEwan – who plans on surprising her with a secret vow renewal ceremony once she leaves the show.

Musician Russell was given mini cheddars by his wife Louise Harris, who revealed she had his album ‘on loop’ during his stint, while former Neon Jungle star Jessica and host Victoria were sent chocolate by their respective families. 

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! continues on Monday at 9pm on ITV.