The host of the Australian version of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here has said she would fill in for Ant McPartlin “in a heartbeat” on the UK programme after a video of her on the show went viral.
Comedian Julia Morris has been presenting the Australian version from South Africa since it started three years ago.
A montage of the way she introduces herself, including as “Kylie Minogue’s body double”, “the thinking man’s Angelina Jolie” and a “Victoria’s Secret angel and part-time parachute” has recently amassed more than a million views online.
Obsessed pic.twitter.com/pXt4e8Fpd1
— Tom King (@tomilo) August 21, 2018
Fans called for her to join the UK version of the show later this year to host alongside Declan Donnelly, while BBC Radio 1 star Nick Grimshaw wrote on Twitter: “Fly her first class to the UK now to host everything.”
It was previously confirmed that Donnelly’s usual co-host Ant McPartlin will not travel to the Australian jungle as he continues to take a break from presenting after pleading guilty to drink driving.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Morris said: “I’d take the job in a heartbeat, I am a huge, huge fan of the show.
Standing by to go live on Good Morning Britain… #mayormaynotbenude jx pic.twitter.com/ZPK8Qv8pKj
— Julia Morris (@Ladyjmo) August 23, 2018
“I lived in the UK for seven years and when I came home to Australia and heard they were doing an Australian version I went lock, stock and two very smoking barrels to get that job.
“It always looked like the boys were having so much fun so I was lucky enough to land it.”
Morris said she has never met Donnelly but said she would bring something different to the show, adding: “I’m not convinced that we have crossed paths but I am a long-standing fan.
“I’m not going to bring what Ant brings, which is a magic that cannot be described but I would certainly bring something reasonably elderly and slightly overweight, that would be something new and interesting on television.”
Just woken up to watch @Ladyjmo on @GMB. Can I just throw my twopenneth in here. I’ve known J-Mo is the funniest woman on the planet for 20 years & have shared cheap cider and sleeping arrangements with her for as long as I can remember! Thrilled the wider UK is seeing her genius
— Antony Cotton (@antonycotton) August 23, 2018
Asked how she comes up with her trademark introductions, she said: “It’s a bit of a combination salad of my general insanity and we also have some writers on staff and the funnier of them more than likely belong to them.
“We have a six-week run of our I’m A Celebrity so I’m always trying to throw ones in that no-one is expecting, which always get much bigger laughs on the floor on the day.”