Wayne Rooney’s personal feelings about joining I’m A Celebrity were shared just days before the ITV show started.
Wayne Rooney is feeling really excited about heading into the Australian jungle for the 2026 show, but he does have a few worries, according to his old England teammate Alan Shearer.
Rooney, a Manchester United legend, has just been officially named by ITV as one of the 10 celebrities joining this year’s series. Leigh Francis was also mentioned in the line-up but hasn’t been confirmed yet, sparking guesses that he might be one of the last two to join.
Rooney will be the highest-paid celebrity in the jungle, and ITV is hoping his huge football fan base will vote for him to take on lots of the tricky ‘Bushtucker Trials.’ Shearer says Rooney will probably be doing just that.
Talking to Betfair, Shearer said he’ll be voting for Rooney as often as he can to see him take on the famous daily challenges — although ITV has a rule that no one can do more than two trials in a row. He also shared a chat he had with Rooney about what to expect in the jungle.
“Wayne Rooney’s going into the jungle for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, and when I saw him recently, he was really looking forward to it,” Shearer said. “He’s excited and in great shape. I asked him what scares him, and he said he’s claustrophobic, doesn’t like rats, snakes, or heights. I told him, ‘Apart from that, you’ll be fine!’”
Shearer joked, “It’s going to cost me a lot every night voting for him 20 times. Those eating challenges are the worst. I couldn’t do them, so there’s no chance you’ll see me in the jungle. But good luck to Wayne.”
Rooney is actually the second in his family to take on the jungle, after his wife Coleen did it in 2024. When Coleen got a chance to have a family visit during the show, Rooney couldn’t fly out because he was managing Plymouth Argyle in the Championship at the time.
Now, two years later, Rooney has paused his coaching career—he was let go by Argyle in January 2025—and is working as a TV pundit. He even won Pundit of the Year at the Broadcast Sports Awards recently. He feels now is the perfect time for I’m A Celebrity.
Before the show, Rooney told Liverpool Echo, “Coleen is proud, of course. Since she’s done it, she knows what it’s like and how tough it can be. It’ll be nice for her to watch and really get into it. I hope people see me for who I really am. I like to have fun, and I like to think I’m a fun guy to be around. I like joking about and I talk a lot. People will have their opinions, but I hope they see me as genuine.”