I'm a Celebrity: Knight of Gwrych says castle is 'haunted'

The stars of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! could be getting a mysterious extra campmate this year.

The show is moving from the Australian bush to Gwrych Castle in Abergele, Conwy - with the campers' identities being revealed this weekend.

But locals claim the castle is haunted - with sightings of a "woman in white".

And a former Knight of Gwrych said a night in the creepy castle would make any celebrity shout: "Get Me Out of Here!"

All 12 campers will be revealed in an ITV special on Sunday, before they head to north Wales to start filming on 15 November.

The show's very first UK-based series is set to receive a warm Welsh welcome, as Abergele locals have been decorating their homes and streets to greet the cast and crew.

But once inside the castle, things could get a little more chilling.

Graham Jones, 68, father-of-five and grandfather-of-10, who lives near Abergele, worked as a Knight of Gwrych for battle re-enactments and jousting at the castle from the 1970s to the early 90s.

"I did a show every day except Saturday and the winner would get the Sword of Gwrych - but I never won it," he said.

The former knight, who jokes he was "the knight of nights" because of his shifts working for Hotpoint when not in battle at the castle, said he and his friends witnessed some ghostly goings-on at the castle over the years.

"People have said there's a woman in white who has been seen riding around," he said.

"My friend Steve worked as a security guard at the castle and once or twice he went into the kitchen down some steps and heard someone behind him - he could feel their breath on the back of his neck. But no-one was there."

Mr Jones had his own unexplained experience at the castle, following a re-enactment battle with his brother and friend one weekend.

"After the siege show, the castle's manager asked me to get a flag pole on the roof. I went up to do it, out through a little doorway in the roof and there was an old woman sitting on the floor," he said.

"She snapped 'You can't go this way!' so I went the other way and somehow she got there before me. She kept saying 'You're not allowed up here!'.

"When I got back I asked the manager about the old lady and he said 'What old lady?'."

Mr Jones later recognised the lady in a very old photograph of former staff at the castle - who would have died long before his encounter on the castle's roof.

It wasn't just spooky sightings Mr Jones experienced.

"I was at the castle one night with a bunch of the lads and we started trying to scare each other after a few drinks," he said.

"I decided to walk back to my mother's and started to walk the lane. I could hear the sound of a horse behind me but when I looked there was nothing there.

"I could hear the horse shoes hitting the cobbles and the horse snorting. I could hear the echoing against a wall."

Asked if he would fancy joining the celebrities in their new home, Mr Jones said: "I never stayed at the castle again and I never will do!

"The courtyard where they're staying is where most people have had an experience. If they get it anywhere it'll be there."

On the town's excitement ahead of filming, Mr Jones said: "It's good for Abergele. The town have had competitions for the best windows and they've had cardboard cut-outs people can have their photo taken with.

"They'll be welcomed here in Abergele."