The public would least like to face a spider in a trial, with those aged 18-24 likely to be the most scared to face them.
ITV’s annual foray into the Australian jungle has returned to our screens, as stars of soaps, sport, dancing and even Countdown signed up for ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.’
This year once again sees campmates facing their fears in a variety of terrifying trials.
The first of the series saw viewers ‘treated’ to the sight of four celebrities lying next to one another in a makeshift tomb for ten minutes, during which time they were joined by all manner of jungle critters – the most from any trial in the show’s history.
Using our Next Day Omnibus service, we investigated which animal, reptile or insect the public would least like to encounter in one of the trials.
Spiders are the creatures that the public would most like to avoid. Almost a quarter (23%) would least like to face an eight-legged foe. Women are far more likely than men to want to avoid spiders – by 29% compared to 16%.
There is also a clear age divide when it comes to spiders. Over four in ten (43%) of 18-24s would least like to share a trial with spiders, compared to just 12% of over 55s. On the reverse, a fifth (22%) of over 55s would be most nervous about facing rats, compared to 8% of 18-24s.
But spiders aren’t the only thing to strike fear into viewers’ hearts. Over one in seven (16%) would want to avoid snakes above all else, while a similar number said the same about rats (15%) and cockroaches (13%).
However, some claimed that they are made of sterner stuff. Just over a tenth (11%) say that they would be prepared to face any animal, reptile or insect. Men are most likely to claim they would be stoic in the face of creepy crawlies, (17% compared to 6% of women).
Image PA
