Prince William's response when asked if he wanted Sunderland-born footballer Jill Scott to win I'm A Celebrity instead of his in-law

The former Lioness, who emerged this week as the odds-on favourite to win the reality TV show, is a friend of Prince William.

The pair share a long-running joke after Scott slipped and accidentally knocked him over at a charity event.

She previously said: "It stems back to about 10 years ago when we did a charity event and I slipped and side-tackled him and actually wiped him out.

“The running joke whenever he sees us is, ‘No yellow cards this tournament Jill!’.”

But Scott is up against former rugby player Mike Tindall, who is married to Zara Tindall, Prince William’s cousin.

And the heir to the throne was asked outright which of the two he would liked to win while visiting a military base.

The future king was on a visit to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire when he was put on the spot by Corporal Rachael Howes, who him when he met RAF personnel from the base involved in sport as he opened the base’s new boxing club.

Cpl Howes, who plays in the Coningsby's women's football team, said: "I asked him who he wanted to win, Lioness Jill Scott or his relative Mike Tindall."

The prince smiled and was overheard saying: "That's a tricky one," but diplomatically did not pick a winner.

Loose Women star Charlene White was the first celebrity voted off the show on Friday, November 18, after the public vote opened for the first time on Thursday.

But while Scott, who is bookies favourite to win, will safely continue in the show, it hasn’t been a totally winning week for the 35-year-old.

She had an unfortunate experience on Thursday when she got cockroach stuck in her ear during one of the show’s infamous bushtucker trials.

Scott, who retired in the summer after winning the Women's Euro 2022, joined forces with soap actor Owen Warner and Mike Tindall to complete a series of fairground-inspired challenges in the ITV reality show.

After the trial, Scott told hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly: "I've got a cockroach stuck in my ear."

As the medic rushed to get it out, she said: "Come to the jungle, they said, it would be fun."

It comes 11 years after Olympic gold medallist Fatima Whitbread got a cockroach stuck up her nose after enduring a time-trial wearing a plastic helmet full of critters on the ITV reality show.

McPartlin said: "Jill, that was bigger than the one Fatima Whitbread had up her nose!"

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! returns on Saturday at 9.10pm on ITV1 and ITV Hub.