Javelin thrower to star in ‘I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here’

Paralympic javelin thrower Hollie Arnold MBE has been confirmed as one of the contestants on this year’s edition of I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here.

Arnold, 26, was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, but moved to Ystrad Mynach as a teenager.

Born without her right forearm, Arnold has gone on to compete at three Paralympic Games, win gold medals, break world records and receive recognition in the New Year’s Honours List.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s series of the show will be filmed at Gwrych Castle in Abergele, Conwy, instead of the usual setting of Australia.

Some of the contestants joining her in the castle include television presenter Vernon Kay, Coronation Street actress Beverley Callard, broadcaster Victoria Derbyshire, actor Shane Ritchie and Olympian Mo Farah.

In 2008, Arnold became the youngest member of the Great Britain Paralympics team at the Beijing Olympics, aged just 14.

In 2010, she took silver at the IWAS World Junior Championship and then won gold at the 2011 Championship. The same year, Arnold represented Great Britain at senior level, competing at the IPC Athletics World Championships, where she won bronze in the F46 javelin.

She then went on to represent Team GB at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

Four years later, Arnold competed at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games, winning gold with a record breaking throw.

Arnold was made an MBE in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List, in recognition of her achievements.

The following year, she won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, breaking the world record yet again with a 44.43 metre throw.

Last year, Arnold, alongside boxer Lauren Price, also from Ystrad Mynach, were beaten to the Wales Sports Personality of the Year award by Wales rugby icon Alun-Wyn Jones.

The show, which will air on ITV1, will begin on Sunday, November 15 and will run until Friday, November 27.