Name: George Takei

Age: 71

Occupation: Actor

Phobias: None

Special Skills: Hiking and getting along with people

“I’m willing to boldly go where I’ve never been before!”

Best known for his roles as Mr Sulu in Star Trek and Hiro Nakamura’s father in Heroes, actor George Takei was born and bred in America and has never actually seen I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!

George may be the oldest ever contestant in the series but he says that he is a very fit person but might struggle if he has to run due to a foot injury.

He says: “I am a physically fit person. I work out every day. I used to run marathons. The marathon that got me to stop was the London marathon. I did terribly at that one. That was in 1991. I had foot surgery so my doctors said I can’t run now – or should not run. I walk 45 minutes every morning.”

George says he hasn’t got a clue what he is letting himself in for, but just thinks an adventure in the jungle would be fun.

He says: “I’m American, so we don’t get your show here. I have never seen it. But I like challenges and from what I hear this is a survival in a rain forest program. I am willing to boldly go. I think it is going to be good fun—a trip to Australia and a rain forest.

“I do find being with nature and an understanding of nature gives you a new respect for it. I think our civilisation has been much too careless in acting as trustees of what we have been given. So I think by throwing myself into the primeval wild, we get a better appreciation and understanding of the issues of environmental conservation.”

George says he thinks he will be ok when it comes to eating things in the Bushtucker Trials – because he has already eaten live fish, a Japanese delicacy.

He says: “I’m Japanese and I love sushi. I’ve eaten many exotic fish and parts of fish. And I’ve even had live fish that’s had a bamboo spit driven through its gill attached to a radish and a bamboo spit through its tail so that it can’t flop around. It just undulates. And one side has been sliced elegantly. You pick up a slice from this undulating body with your chopsticks and you dip that slice into the ginger sauce. The slice flinches and you eat it. You can’t get fish any fresher than that. I put that live thing right into my mouth and it went undulating down my throat. It was delicious.”

George says he doesn’t have any phobias, is good at working in a team and the things he will miss the most are his husband and LA.

He says: “I get along with people. I understand we are going to be working in teams so I am a good team player and if need be, I can lead a team.”

“I think I will miss home. My husband, Brad, isn’t going to be with me so I will miss him. I’ll miss my friends and the familiarity of home. I was born in Los Angeles and I love my city I think it’s one of the most exciting cities in the world so I will miss LA. I love music so I will be cut off from that and miss being connected to what’s happening in the world.”

George says he is curious about being filmed 24 hours a day, and doesn’t know how he will react and that he has a couple of interesting facts about himself that he can share with his campmates.

He says: “That is going to be a new experience for me about giving up privacy. There’s privacy in the privy though, but other than that, we have no privacy. I wonder what my reaction would be to that. I don’t know.

“I’m very active in social and political issues in America. I was Mayor Tom Bradley’s appointee to the Southern California Rapid Transit District board. I served on that district board for 11 years. His mandate to me was to get the agency started on building a subway system here in Los Angeles. This was back in 1973, and today we have the most modern subway system in the world. We have a ballot measure in the election next week to pay for an extension on the subway system.

“I have also been an appointee of President Clinton’s on the Japan-US Friendship Commission. At that same time, I was serving as the Chairman of the Board of the Japanese American National Museum. We sent an exhibit on the Japanese American experience in America to travel throughout Japan for two years. For these activities, I received an unexpected honour from the Emperor of Japan. The Order of the Rising Sun with gold rays and rosette at the Imperial Palace, which is something else people might not know about me.”

George says he would like to be in the jungle with someone who is good at survival and thinks the only thing about him which may annoy people is his laugh.

He says: “Strangely, I find nothing about me annoying, but I do have a distinctive laugh and people have mocked me for my laugh. I have a hearty laugh.

“My dream jungle mate would be someone who’s good at survival, somebody who has a well controlled temper and an engaging personality and is personable and is physically fit.

“The worst mate in the jungle would be the total opposite to that – someone who is cranky, temperamental, explosive, who knows nothing about the jungle and has no respect for others and is totally self centred.”