The former ‘EastEnders’ actor had washed his clothes and left them to dry on the fire as he headed for the Bush Telegraph, only for them to go up in flames, causing the wooden tripod the ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ stars use to hang their clothes on to also set alight.

Brian Paddick swiftly threw the contraption away much to Esther’s annoyance.

Worried it would start another fire, the former ‘That’s Life’ presenter covered the simmering wood with a towel, causing the former police chief to question what she was doing.

Esther snapped: “Look, how many items I have done on fire safety for Christ sakes? I’m not as stupid as I look. What’s the point of doing a consumer programme for 21 years.”

She requested more water for the wood, but most of her camp mates felt she was overreacting because the constant rain has left the ground in the camp very dry.

However, the 68-year-old star said: “Excuse me, I can see sparks everywhere that’s what I’m putting out. I know about this. I have done a complete programme about fire safety when fire takes hold it goes very fast indeed. What you’ve got here under the ferns in a layer of dry leaves.”

Once the fire was completely out and Joe had returned to discover the fate of his clothes, Esther – who has flirted with the actor over the course of the show – joked: “I deliberately set fire to all your underthings and so on because I like you to go commando. You have tempted me with your luscious young body for too long.”