By Grimsby athlete to star in I’m A Celebrity
A Grimsby Paralympian has joined the line-up of one of television’s most popular shows.
Hollie Arnold MBE (26) who competes in javelin, will star in the 20th series of I’m A Celebrity when it returns on November 15.
The participants will be staying in a ruined castle in the North Wales countryside as, due to coronavirus, campmates won’t be flying out to Australia where the show is usually filmed.
Hollie, who was born without her right forearm, has won Gold for javelin at the Paralympic, World, Commonwealth and European championships.
Her impressive credentials as an athlete could prove a disadvantage though, she confessed, as she’s used to an intake of more calories as fuel for training – while the ITV series hosted by Ant and Dec often sees the celebrities missing out on meals.
But that hasn’t put her off, with the new campmate hoping to do well – while also hoping to encourage viewers never to give up on their dreams.
Hollie was born in Grimsby and grew up in Holton-le-Clay and now lives and trains in Loughborough.
Hollie is an Ambassador for St Andrew’s Hospice in Grimsby and was awarded the MBE in the 2017 New Year’s Honours for Services To Field Athletics.
She was the youngest field athlete to ever compete in the Paralympics/Olympics, at the age of 13 at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing throwing a personal best.
She also threw a personal best in 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. She took the gold medal in the F46 javelin in the 2016 Summer Paralympics at Rio, also throwing a new world record at the same time.
In 2018 she became the first ever Javelin thrower in history to hold all four major titles in the same Paralympic/Olympic four-year cycle.
Photo: ITV
