Dec Donnelly suffered terrifying spider bite ordeal during I’m A Celeb filming

Dec Donnelly was given a major scare after a spider bite saw him tended by medics at 2am.

Dec, and his co-host and best mate Ant, recall in their new joint autobiography Once Upon A Tyne, that he suffered a nasty bite from the critter as they were filming for a Bushtucker Trial.

“Course, it’s not just the celebs who have to endure trial when they’re in Australia,” Dec writes, “we have had our fair share of challenges to deal with……my spider bite.

“It happened down at the trial clearing, appropriately enough.”

He goes on to explain: “I woke up the next morning, at 2am, as normal and the spider bite had blown up.

“It looked like I had huge red warts on my finger and I was told I needed to get it looked at when I arrived on site.”

Medics were soon round, and apparently tried to “pop it with a needle.”

Ant comes in: “When I came back 15 minutes later, the door to Dec’s and my office was shut.

“Someone said, ‘Dec’s taken a turn for the worse’ and, when the door opened, I saw three medics standing in a circle, looking down on the floor.

“One of them was holding an oxygen tank with the mask clamped around Dec’s mouth and nose, while another held his legs in the air.”

Dec continues: “I’m not very good with the sight of blood and I nearly passed out.”

Ant took photographic evidence of the incident once he knew Dec would be OK.

“The medics assured me that Dec would be fine,” Ant goes on, “and the oxygen was just to bring him round.

“I was so relieved that I took several photos with my phone of him lying on the floor.”

This year’s I’m A Celeb will mark its 20th anniversary – though major changes have had to be made amid the coronavirus crisis.

Namely, the location has been shifted to a spooky – and allegedly haunted – castle in rural north Wales, as opposed to the usual Aussie jungle.

This means the new roster of celebs will have to battle with the wind and the rain rather than the heat and the creepy crawlies.

Ant & Dec’s new book is packed with revelations about their career, and even goes into depth about their near-split during Ant’s addiction troubles.