Paralympic javelin champion Hollie Arnold MBE has been announced as one of the contestants taking part in the 20th series of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!. She is the first person with a visible physical disability to participate in the reality show.
Who is Hollie Arnold MBE?
Who is Hollie Arnold MBE?Hollie Arnold MBE is the current F46 Paralympic javelin gold medallist and four times consecutive World champion, Commonwealth champion and European champion.
She took up the sport aged 11 at Cleethorpes Athletics Club and went on to compete at her first Paralympic Games in Beijing 2008 and at London 2012, where she gained personal bests in both events.
Hollie then achieved a gold medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.
In 2017, she was awarded an MBE for services to Field Athletics by Prince Charles. She is also an ambassador for the charities Caudwell Children and St Andrews Hospice.
The 26-year-old was born with no right forearm and admits she has had some struggles in her life but has always given 100% to everything she does and accepts her disability.
Hollie Arnold on I’m a Celebrity
Hollie says she hopes by taking part in I’m A Celebrity, she will inspire viewers to follow their dreams.
“I hope by going on the programme, it inspires people. I want people to look and see that I am scared but I am giving it a go.
Now it is here, I am feeling excited. Yes it is scary but it couldn’t have come at a better time! I can’t wait!”
Describing herself as an underdog, Hollie hopes viewers will get a chance to get to know her better.
“I am really looking forward to meeting people,” she adds. “They won’t know me and so there is the feeling of being an underdog but hopefully by sharing my stories, people will get to understand what I have achieved.”
Although she readily admits some of the trials will be tough, Hollie is determined to give it her best shot. She says: “People might see me as someone who wins medals in sport and I just hope I can use my independence and the pressures I go through with athletics in the camp and the trials!
But I can’t train for this and it’s going to be a very big challenge!”
And she thinks the hardest battle will be surviving on little food. Hollie predicts: “As an athlete, you have to intake a lot more calories as you have to fuel yourself for training and so it is going to be really hard to limit calories.
I am not going to lie, I am probably going to be hangry Hollie but I will do my best to get myself and my teammates fed.”
I’m a Celebrity 2020 line-up
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s contestants will not be jetting off to the hot, dry Australian jungle but instead spending three weeks in the cold and wet countryside of the historic Gwrych Castle, Abergele in North Wales.
The nine celebrities who will be joining Hollie Arnold into the Castle for the new series are:
- TV presenter – Vernon Kay
- Broadcaster and journalist– Victoria Derbyshire
- Star of stage and screen – Shane Richie
- Radio 1 DJ – Jordan North
- Corrie icon – Beverley Callard
- Ballroom dancer – AJ Pritchard
- Author and podcaster – Giovanna Fletcher
- Olympic legend – Sir Mo Farah CBE
- Soap star – Jessica Plummer
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! begins on Sunday 15th November 2020 at 9pm on ITV1.
By Emma Purcell
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