December 5, 2005, 10:14:53
femalefirst
It wasn't just Sid who had to face his worst nightmare of being buried with rats, Sheree's Bushtucker Trial saw her face some of the most unpalatable dishes from the jungle smorgasbord.
Gingerly approaching the jungle dining table, Sheree covered her face with both hands as the terror of what she might have to pop, chew and swallow hit home.
"This is rank and out of order," she said as she was greeted by Ant and Dec.
To gain her fully prepared and cooked meals, Sheree had to eat five jungle dishes. But to tempt her away from the task in hand she was also given the option of selecting one of her favourite meals for each dish instead.
First up on the jungle menu was cheese fruit, otherwise known as vomit fruit because of its smell and taste, or lasagne, chips and salad. Coaching herself around to the idea of eating one of them, Sheree said: "It's a fruit. It's not wriggly, it's not alive." Choosing the smallest fruit, Sheree took a small bite and pulled a face: "Ugh! It tastes like vomit" Quickly she popped the remaining piece of fruit into her mouth and clapping her hands chewed and swallowed. "That is disgusting but I'm sure that's nothing," Sheree said looking worriedly at the covered plates in front of her.
Next up was bush worms or sushi. Turning to the plate of sushi she said: "I love sushi!" But knowing what she had to do she selected the bush worms and asked Ant & Dec: "What do they taste like? How many do I have to eat?"
Dec indicated about the size of a 50p and Sheree carefully selected which ones she'd eat. "I don't want fat, dirty ones. I want little skinny ones. This is horrible," she said before giving out a trademark squeal at the plate of wriggling black mass.
Selecting two she said: "Is that enough?" but Dec said: "One more, one more." Again psyching herself up, Sheree said: "Ok, ok. It's not going to kill me." Dropping them into her mouth, Sheree bolted from the table and hopping around with her hands swinging she attempted to swallow but could only squeal:"They're still alive, they're down my throat." With a final effort Sheree swallowed to claim a second star.
Next up was a new delicacy not seen on the celebrity jungle menu before - crocodile eye! Although Sheree squealed "nasty" she soon has one in her mouth, popped, chewed and swallowed all in the blink of an eye - giving up the glass of bubbly she could have drunk instead.
The fourth dish the footballer's wife had to face was an old jungle nemesis that both Paul Burrell and Carol Thatcher over came - kangaroo testicle. Faced with the testicle or cheese and biscuits, Sheree crumbled: "No I can't do it..it is the fur."
Trying to tempt her to have a go the boys said: "Just pop them out." But Sheree was having none of it and when Ant asked what was putting her off. Sheree giggled and replied:"It's a kangaroo nut!" to a laughing Ant & Dec.
Determined not to let her fellow two finalists down, Sheree said: "Oh man. Ok I'll put it in my mouth. I f I can do it, I'll do it" And in it went.
But Sheree couldn't pierce the outer membrane, "I can't break it. What am I doing?" Dec then offered for Medic Bob to come in and put a small cut in it to help her. Thinking that this would work Sheree agreed. But as soon as Bob snipped the testicle, its contents started to ooze making it even less appealing. A distraught Sheree said: "My husband will never kiss me ever, ever again!" And it's not just Sheree who found it distasteful. Dec also had to turn away too.
In a final attempt Sheree placed the split ball into her mouth and tried to chew but had to turn away to vomit it into a bush. She said: "I can't do it. I can't believe I swallowed some too. I swallowed some of the inside of the sack!"
Coming back to the table, Sheree is disappointed: "What's worse is that I feel so rubbish." For her final dish and the chance to secure more food, Sheree was faced with the ultimate choice - a rat's tail or chocolate cake. Dec explained to her that Jilly had been faced with the rat's tail but couldn't attempt it and it looked like Sheree would be the same, saying: "I can't even touch it. It has fur on it."
However, it was Dec who convinced her to have a go by saying: It's cleaned and cooked and it's less than the b*****k. You just have to eat the same amount as your little finger." Ant added: "Remember the little bones too."
With that Sheree bit off a mouthful and swallowed a section of the tail with a gulp of water - having removed the tiny bones. When asked what it tasted like, she said to the boys: "It didn't really taste of anything. I can still taste kangaroo." So a happy Sheree returned to camp, head held high with three unprepared but complete meals.
Returning to camp, brave Sheree had just one word for her campmates. "Uuugggghhhhhhhh" "That was just gross. That was the most disgusting thing I've ever done in my life."
She warned Sid against coming near her. "Why, have you got willy breath?" Sid joked. While Carol picked her nose and looked at her prize, Sid congratulated Sheree. "I take my hat off to you." All Sheree could think about was brushing her teeth to try and rid her mouth of the taste but once she'd done so, she thought back reflectively on her achievements since crash landing into the jungle.
"You want to end on a high. We've come so far and it's been a massive high for me. All the things I've done. You don't want to do a last trial and be remembered for being a complete wimp and not surviving until the end. That's what spurred me on. I did try so hopefully we'll eat well tonight."
Then her body told her that it still hadn't recovered from its recent ordeal. "I keep on burping it all up and it's horrible," she remarked. "Smurf I salute you," Carol informed her. "Aren't you thrilled at how well you've done?"
"I didn't ever expect to do as well as I did," she confessed to Carol. "I don't have much self confidence in myself"
"We should all be proud of ourselves," Sheree added with a look at her final two campmates.
