I'm Freddie Flintoff...

In a parallel universe to the CWC, I think Andrew Flintoff could be crowned 'King of the Jungle' in South Africa on the first Australian series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here. His competition is former AFL star Barry Hall and former (and current) reality TV star Chrissie Swann.

A cursory swipe of the net suggests I might be in the minority on this one, so here is my reasoning:
1. He's coming fresh off a star-turn in a high-rating all-ages show (BBL04).
2. The all-ages thing: he potentially appeals to all demographics, young and old, male and female.
3. He has not shown any unattractive personality traits under pressure, cf. Barry Hall's general micromanagement and picking on Anna, and Chrissie's behind-the-back sniping with Joel.
4. He has been both entertaining and philosophical and pulled off a strategic masterstroke by confiding to camera last week that playing for a 'little thing' like England seemed insignificant compared to playing for charity. Too far?

In some ways he's been like a series mole. He appeared two weeks into the season as an 'intruder' when the group was already set in its roles and most of them didn't know who he was. So he was sort of undercover and his BBL personality would only come out in the 'Tok Tokkie' (TM) pieces to camera, like he was filing reports, and in the meetings with the presenters, where he broke down the host/player barrier by developing a running gag with Dr Chris that culminated with him getting the vet to drink a mouthful of some vile 'Tucker Trial' (TM) concoction.

I can't look at him without seeing the Messiah of the 2005 Ashes, a very traumatic series for me. He was the Lion and the Lamb, the Countenance Divine that shone forth upon their clouded hills (literally: when the crowd sang "Jerusalem" at Lords on the final day, an enormous close-up of his face appeared in the video montage at the ground when they reached that line). He didn't quite manage a Second Coming, and this third incarnation as Droll Lancastrian might end up being the most durable. I couldn't get on board with the general Freddie love-in during BBL, I found it a bit cultural-cringey ("You like us, you really like us!") and over-reliant on the 'funny accent' factor.

I won't say I've 'come round'  to the love-in level in this series, but I'm happy to go along with the ride. I was impressed by his no-fuss discussion of depression and his gesture of solidarity with balding men by shaving just the top of his head and 'naming names' ("Shane Warne, roog; Michael Vaughan, roog...") - could there be a new Movember here? And his live commentary while eating a cockroach was a bravura performance.

But last week I thought Maureen was going to take it out.