Medics rushed to the scene last night to give the 68-year-old oxygen when he became ill after the Greasy Spoon Bushtucker Trial.
As part of the trial, he had to eat a five-course meal that included a grilled camel’s toe, a rotten egg and soldiers, mealworm and mice tail bubble and squeak, a pig’s anus buttie, turkey testicles made to look like baked beans on toast.
This was all washed down with a cockroach milkshake.
Starr, who joined the series on Saturday, seemed fine after the meal, but doctors were called two hours later when he collapsed after feeling sick and light-headed.
Not long before he had been mocking TOWIE competitor Mark Wright, saying: “Anyone who wears a bandana and fake tan and puts cream on, they’ve got no change.”
He is currently in Tweed Heads Hospital in New South Wales having more tests. It is unclear whether he will return to the camp.
A spokesman for ITV said: “Freddie Starr was taken unwell in the jungle. He was immediately attended to by on-site medics and taken to hospital where he was assessed by doctors.
“He will remain in hospital overnight as a precaution, and further tests continue. However, Freddie is in great spirits and keeping nursing staff entertained.”
Fellow jungle camper Fatima Whitbread cried when she heard the news. She said: ‘I grew up watching him he always used to make me laugh.’
Doctors say Starr had a severe allergic reaction, but haven’t determined what caused it so far.
Although he had a quadruple bypass after a heart attack last year, doctors say it was “highly unlikely” his illness was related.
They are carrying out tests to find out the cause of the bite, which may have been from food poisoning, or a spider bite or a tic.
A source said: “The foods are all tested on people before they reach the celebrities.
“Extreme precautions are taken and bush tucker like the cockroaches are all bred hygienically.”
