femalfirst
November 24, 2005, 9:21:24
Bushtucker Bluff was no stroll in the park for Carol and Jilly, as they faced 10 plates of some of the most disgusting jungle tucker ever seen on I'm A Celebrity.
But the determination the girls demonstrated at the outset showed that they meant business. In the end it was a combination of iron will and an iron stomach on both their parts that saw them triumphant, proving to be super heroes, and breaking the 4 star curse, amassing eight out of nine stars.
Ant greeted the two women with 'It's all about the food' which provided Carol with an early opportunity to escape, as she replied "I'm not really a food and wine expert. Shall I just watch?"
Carol and Jilly sat down at the 'best table' in the jungle and with some reservation and much bravado asked for their First Course, which was green ants and cheese fruit - aka vomit fruit.
Carol was first in selecting the cheese fruit. Chomping on it she described the taste as 'quite spicy, quite filling, rather bitter', and was grateful for the fact she had no sense of smell.
Jilly asked to smell the treat and said: "It's fine. I like that. It's like high gorgonzola...I'm rather sorry you did that."
The girls stunned Ant and Dec with a stiff upper lip attitude to the task with Ant saying: "Well, we've never had that response before."
Food and wine expert, Jilly then tucked into her plate of green ants and chewing a handful said: "Mmmmm. Lovely. They bite. They're delicious. Very good and zesty. One's just bitten my tongue."
With one star under their belts, Carol turned to the boys and asked: "Query? Are you holding the wine list by any chance? Can we have a look at the list?"
The Second Course turned out to be live cockroaches and grasshoppers with both haing to be eaten to gain another two stars.
Jilly was quick in saying "I'd rather do a cockroach. What about you?" As Carol selected last time, Jilly got her favoured plate(lucky girl). Wanting to get on with the task at hand Carol said to Jilly "Before they leg it, are you going to do yours now?"
But it was Carol who bit first on the grasshopper, a curious Ant asked her to describe the taste and she replied: "Chewy...like miscellaneous jungle." As Carol munched, an admiring Jilly questioned: "Do people really eat it (grasshopper)?"
But a stoic Carol brushed it off saying: "Don't be sympathetic to it (the grasshopper)! I offer apologies to my tummy and my entire digestive system."
Jilly inquired: "Does it have any flavour?"
A dry-humoured Carol responded, after swallowing: "I wasn't really focussing on the flavour."
Lifting the lid on the plate of cockroaches, Jilly needed a minute to psych herself up for the delicasey. Chivvying her along, Carol said: "It's only one Jilly. They're quite small and a couple of bites with your front canines and they'll have had it."
Jilly reassured her that she was okay and composing herself once more asked for the lid to be removed
.
The double act was proving a hit with Ant and Dec too who couldn't stop smirking throughout, with Ant commenting the "Great teamwork."
After another false start and a pep talk from Carol - 'Don't relish the fact it's crawling over your tongue' - Jilly selected one and bit into it. "It's not a favourite flavour...pretty foul. Anyone who chose to eat that would be out of their bloody minds," Jilly commented.
Ant replied: "You won't offend the chef, but what did it taste like?"
Known for her surplus descriptive evaluations of both wine and food, Jilly was very succinct in her response: "Bottoms."
But at least they had three stars. Witchity grubs and meal worms were Course Three and the pair conferred over who would eat which. Two plates of wriggling critters and again Jilly selected first - meal worms - leaving Carol with the grubs that Jilly had said tasted of 'yoghurt and nuts'.
Having only to eat one, minus the head, Carol said: "I'll start at the rear end and work my way up." Jilly covered her eyes as Carol took a chomp leaving a trail of mucus hanging from her mouth attached to the remainder of the morsel. Taking sips of water, Carol suppressed her desire to gag and said: "They'd be better with ketchup."
Swallowing her mouthful, Carol pointed to the remaining grubs and said: "Look at its mates having a nervous breakdown at what has happened."
Encouraged by Ant, Carol took her last bite and Jilly congratulated the Iron Lady's daughter: "You are a heroine...Utterly brilliant, brilliant."
Gagging, Carol requested Alka Seltzer and said: "Thanks for your concern partner, can you get on with it. The troops want some dinner."
Jilly grabbed a handful before pausing only for Carol to hurry her up again with the comment: "Jilly, do you want silver service or something darling?"
Throwing them into her mouth, Jilly was pleasantly surprised by the taste of the meal worms, saying: "Mmmmmm delicious. They are actually quite sweet and taste like nice little fresh hazelnuts, so I'd recommend them."
Dec congratulated both women: "So five stars...that is the first time camp has had more than four stars."
The next plated delicacies where placed before the ladies - fish eyes and rat tail.
Carol pointed to the eyes and said: "I'm told they are disgusting...I could do one of those. Apparently they are better with balsamic vinegar."
She then picked up the rat tail, complete with fur.
The look of it prompted a slightly green Jilly to say: "I couldn't do the rat."
And so it was left to Carol alone to each a dish - selecting a fish eye and starting to chew. Finding it harder than she imagined she joked that it must be wearing contact lenses.
A gagging Jilly supportively responded: "You poor girl. I'm right here with you."
Covering her mouth, Carol crunched away on the fish eye, saying: "What was it, Jaws? I'll send you my dental bills."
Finishing up she added: "Sorry about my table manners. Have you got any tooth picks...Can we go on to pudding, cheese and bics?"
The final platters were then placed in front of the queasy couple but not before they were blindfolded and instructed by Ant and Dec that they had to decide which dish each of them would eat based on touch alone!
What in fact had been placed in front of them were kangaroo testicles and a kangaroo *****.
Gingerly, a blindfolded Jilly felt for her plate only to squeal at the first touch. Ant confirmed that she'd only got as far as the plate! Once she did manage to locate her delicacy she correctly guessed that they were indeed kangaroo gonads.
Carol handled the kangaroo's ***** and suggested that it was a mouse which left Ant and Dec in hysterics, knowing full well what she was in fact holding.
Having swapped plates, Jilly, still blindfolded, felt the ***** and commented: "This one has something like a tail and I've already passed on one like that."
Before removing their blindfolds they selected their plates - Carol the testicles and Jilly the *****.
Carol was first and having 'popped' them out of their fur pouch, she started to gnaw on the bush oyster, as they are known in the Australian outback, chewing and crunching her way through it.
Jilly asked Ant and Dec how many stars would that make, commenting: "Carol is absolutely magnificent."
A gagging Carol cut in: "Carol hasn't swallowed yet!"
Jilly replied: "Well if she does that will be seven."
Once swallowed the attention turned to Jilly as she tried to focus on the task ahead. Helpfully, Dec said to Jilly: "You can detach it from its furry socket."
A determined Jilly attempted a bite only to be put off by the smell and the toughness. She tried again but couldn't bite through so Dec called on Medic Bob to cut the portion she would be required to eat.
Popping it into her mouth, Jilly alternated between chewing and gagging, shifting uncomfortable in her chair.
Finally, with a glug of water, she raised her glass to the boys saying 'cheers - task complete' and requested a toothpick: "I don't think I can live with kangaroo ***** in my teeth all day."
On the walk back to camp the ladies described the jungle 'treats' they'd had to endure to gain the eight meals for their hungry celebs.
Jilly said: "It was a spindly, spiky kangaroo *****, more dried. It was stiff and hard and tasted like vinegar...monotone in the flavour stakes."
Back at camp, the jungle gourmet experts were greeted with cheers and hugs by the grateful campers but for Jilly the horror of her ordeal wasn't over.
The kangaroo's privates were repeating on her and a desperate Jilly turned to Carol for help asking for a bite of banana saying: "I've got to get rid of the taste of *****."
