Steve McManaman has backed close pal Ian Wright to quickly become a fans' favourite on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! - because he'll leave viewers in stitches.
Wright, the former England and Arsenal striker, has entered the Australian jungle for this year's installment of the ITV hit show and is being touted as one of the favourites to win.
McManaman knows the former football from their days as England internationals, while the pair have lined up together as pundits for BT Sport in recent years.
And the former Liverpool midfielder has explained why he reckons Wright will win over fans.
“He’s currently the bookmakers’ favourite and I think everybody knows Wrighty," he told HorseRacing.net.
"He’s a great character; he’s laughing all the time, he’s joking all the time, so he’s got a wonderful chance of winning it.
“The people at home who do all the voting will probably love him, but you just don’t know how people react.
"They have to do the trials, they have to do things they don’t like, but for comedic value I think he’s going to be absolutely brilliant.
“He’s going to be the person that keeps everybody laughing, keeping spirits high and jovial. You just hope they all get through it when they’ve got no food to eat.”
And McManaman also reckons Wright has the perfect attitude to enjoy the experience Down Under.
He added: “Everybody knows, apart from Harry Redknapp that is, what the show’s about.
“Everybody knows that there’s spiders and snakes, that you can be locked away, that it’s claustrophobic and that you’re going to have no food.
“Everybody will go through their emotions if they don’t eat and they don’t sleep, and everybody gets grumpy at times - but Wrighty has the capacity to be fine with it if I’m being honest.
“He’s a really good mate of mine and I love him to bits, I think his attitude is brilliant and I hope that he does really well.
“However, I don’t think you’ll see me on the show anytime soon. I don’t think it’s my style if I’m being completely honest!”
