AMIR Khan’s best pal says the boxer IS terrified of snakes and once cancelled a training session after spotting one in a park.
The I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star’s fear of snakes was questioned after last night’s show, which featured the boxer pulling out of a Bushtucker Trial after accidentally grabbing a harmless reptile believing it was a rope containing a yellow star.
Minutes after his abandoned trial, a picture from 2012 circulated online featuring Amir posing next to a Burmese python at a London night club, seemingly unbothered by its appearance.
However, a picture from Amir’s Instagram feed taken from the same evening does illustrate his fear is genuine, as he ended his caption of the snap with #hatesnakes.
And the former Team GB star’s pal Nabil Ditta has further backed Amir’s claims by revealing a snake once caused him to postpone an entire workout while training for a fight.
Nabil told The Sun: “We went jogging in San Francisco and ran through a park when Amir saw a snake.
“He did a U-turn and cancelled the whole session there and then. It took him three weeks to be persuaded to take the same to route again.”
Nabil added Amir even refuses to take his daughter Lamaisah to the reptile section of a zoo.
He said: “He’s too scared to go through there.”
Amir’s snake phobia and claim he had never seen the ITV show before signing up has made him the butt of host’s Ant and Dec’s jokes since the series kicked off on Sunday.
The boxer is currently 12-1 to be named King of the Jungle by bookies William Hill.
Made In Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo is the current favourite at 10-3.