Sunday evening brought the launch of the new season of leading Australian reality TV show I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here. Often there is much conjecture, and a whole lot of hype, as to who is going to actually enter the jungle, and usually we get suckered into believing that some big time celebrities might actually be giving up their luxurious lifestyles to sleep in the dirt. Of course, we are always disappointed as a bunch of D-grade celebs, wannabes and has-beens are thrown into the blender to spit out something that resembles a reality TV show at the other end.
The good news is that we can make D-grade celebrities bearable by betting on the outcome of who we think might win the show. It is, after all, just a popularity contest, and using social media as a guide, it’s pretty easy to work out the main contenders for the title.
Australian sportsbook Sportsbet have installed former AFL premiership player Josh Gibson as the early $3.00 favourite. Gibson is a popular personality in the AFL world, has a good look and is known to be charismatic which is likely to take him a long way in this season.
The second favourite is former Australian Idol runner-up Shannon Noll ($4.50). No doubt Noll has a large following, especially in the reality TV audience demographic, so he looks pretty hard to beat.
“We’re tipping this season of IACGMOOH will see Shannon Noll become the Tom Melbourne of reality TV and cement his position as a perennial bridesmaid,” said sportsbet.com.au’s Ella Zampatti.
Most of the other “celebs” we couldn’t even tell you who they are, although some of us are sadly old enough to still remember one-hit wonder Tiffany ($7.00).
The other interesting addition to the mix is none other than tennis bad boy Bernard Tomic. Of course, Tomic was recently in the headlines after declaring that he just “counts his millions” after failing to qualify for the Australian Open. Well, he obviously doesn’t have enough money to turn down the offer to roll around with spiders and snakes in the African jungle. Surely there could be no one more unpopular in Australia than this guy right about now, so unless he somehow reveals that he is a poor, misunderstood soul, then his price of $8.00 to win the series looks severe unders.
Market courtesy of sportsbet com.au
IACGMOOH Outright Winner
$3.00 Josh Gibson
$4.50 Shannon Noll
$5.50 Peter Rowsthorn
$7.00 Tiffany Darwish
$8.00 Bernard Tomic
$10 Kerry Armstrong
$11 Simone Holtznagel
$18 Fiona O’Loughlin
$24 Jackie Gillies
It appears that boxing world champion Anthony Mundine is set to enter as an intruder, which should stir up the markets. Hopefully he gives Tomic an uppercut or two to the brain.
As for a tip, we’re going to stick with Aussie icon Shannon Noll. Sure, he’s a few years past his best, but he managed to get enough votes to get runner-up on Australian Idol, so he has the form on the board.
Shannon Noll to win IACGMOOH
$4.50
