I'm a Celebrity star Harry Redknapp "can snap" warns former player: "he is your best mate and your worst enemy"

Ruddock, who played under Redknapp for two years at West Ham, has some good news and some bad news for his former boss's campmates.

"Harry gets on with everyone, but Harry can snap," he writes in The Sportsman. "Harry as a manager is your best mate and your worst enemy. If you do something wrong, he is on you."

Of course, Ruddock also has first-hand experience of the I'm a Celeb jungle, having been a contestant on the third series in 2004 – and he reckons that while Redknapp could become a "father figure" in the camp, the unique pressures of the show could also lead to him losing it with his fellow celebrities.

"What they do is they make you hungry and tired, and when you are hungry and tired it is when they become their most aggressive," says Ruddock. "You lose it and you want to argue with everyone. So I can see Harry snapping and really having a go at people, which will be hilarious for telly.

"At times, anyone can rub Harry up the wrong way. I don't really know what the personalities of the other contestants are, but I can tell you Harry don't like whingers. If anyone whinges, Harry just tells you to get on with it. Likewise if anyone lets the team down – Harry is a proper team man so you have to be a team in there. If there's anyone in there who moans about other people or becomes selfish, I can see him losing the plot with them.

"Harry will become the gaffer in the camp and a father figure. He's definitely the oldest in there, he's the most experienced and he is used to organising teams. In that jungle, once you get individuals, it messes everything up."

So – a potential father figure, team builder and leader who you cross at your peril. Sounds like Harry Redknapp could become a favourite with I'm a Celebrity viewers. And there's no denying, King Harry has a certain ring to it...

I'm a Celebrity... Get me out of Here! starts on ITV at 9pm on Sunday 18th November