I'm A Celebrity 2021: Kadeena Cox won't let MS 'hold her back' on show

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant Kadeena Cox spoke at length with the show’s team on how to adapt trials so she won’t miss out due to her multiple sclerosis (MS).

The ITV show kicks off tonight, with Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly back in Wales alongside a new batch of celebrities hoping to be crowned King or Queen of the Castle.

This year, Paralympic sprinting and cycling star Kadeena, 30, is amongst the hopefuls entering the grounds of Gwrych Castle.

The four-time gold medallist was diagnosed with MS back in 2014 after being taken to hospital for a suspected stroke.

The condition can affect the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of potential symptoms, including problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance.

But she definitely won’t be letting it hold her back, sharing with Metro.co.uk and other press how she worked with the team behind the show to ensure she won’t be ‘exempt’ from I’m A Celeb’s famous trials.

She explained of her MS: ‘That actually was one of the biggest things and one of the reasons I probably didn’t want to do the show because I didn’t want to be that person would be exempt from the trials because of the disability.

‘I’ve always been a person who’s more about what I can do and not what I can’t do, so that was something that I feared.’

Kadeena chatted at length to those working behind-the-scenes on adapting things so they would work for her disability.

The star continued: ‘I have spoken with the team and we’ve talked about ways in which we can adapt things and how we can make it so I can do the trials without having to miss out on opportunities, which is great.

‘It’s great that the team worked so closely with me to make sure that I won’t have to feel like my disability is holding me back.’

It’s been a year full of highs for Kadeena so far: as well as winning gold at the Paralympics, she was also crowned champion of the latest series of Celebrity MasterChef.

She beat off competition from actor Joe Swash and Towie’s Megan McKenna in the final but it doesn’t seem as though she’s going to be jumping at the chance to get her chef’s hat on in the camp.

The contestant added: ‘I feel like people are going to say “she won MasterChef!” So there is a lot of pressure on being able to cook for people.

‘I’m not going to raise my hand for the opportunity, I will sit back!’

Amongst this year’s line-up are Emmerdale’s Danny Miller, Loose Women panellist Frankie Bridge and TV presenting legend, Richard Madeley.

Former BBC Breakfast host Louise Minchin, music producer Naughty Boy and Olympic diving champion Matty Lee will also be hoping to avoid the hellish Bushtucker Trials the producers have planned for them.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! begins tonight at 9pm on ITV.

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