Carol Vorderman became the fifth star to be eliminated from I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! during the live portion of Wednesday night’s episode.

The former Countdown star, 55, hugged her co-stars as she left the jungle before trekking across the bridge to meet the show’s presenters Ant and Dec.

She follows dancers Jordan Banjo and Ola Jordan, broadcaster and model Lisa Snowdon and DJ Danny Baker in being booted from the star-studded programme.

Carol Vorderman
Carol Vorderman (Ian West/PA Archive/PA Images)

After 19 days in the Australian jungle camp, Carol admitted she was happy to be out of the show.

She cried out “I’m free” as she met Ant and Dec for an embrace.

Carol said she “genuinely loved every minute” of being in the ITV reality show but that she she felt “ready” to leave because she missed her children.

The TV star shared her praise for jungle campmates Sam Quek and Goggblebox star Scarlett Moffatt and admitted that she wanted both of them to win the series, but Olympic hockey champion Sam in particular.

She told Ant and Dec: “I’ve particularly loved the youngsters, they’re the age of my daughter – Scarlett, Joel, Sam, Adam – I sort of looked on them in that kind of way.

“They sent out good messages that you can be good. I absolutely loved them and I know they’ve been rooting for me. I love being around fantastic young people.”

Carol also discussed Martin Roberts, who has become a controversial figure in the show for being involved in several awkward exchanges.

Carol Vorderman
Carol Vorderman (ITV)

She said his divisive presence in the camp was down to his not being part of the “celebrity circuit” like the rest of them.

“I’m very fond of Martin,” she said. “He had a very bad first day … he was a bit pompous. I think it’s because he didn’t know what he was coming into, he’s not really a showbiz person.

“He does Homes Under The Hammer, he isn’t involved in the celebrity circuit.”

She said that she discovered he responds well to being spoken to “nicely” but “firmly”.

Carol said: “If you say it nicely, you’ve got to say a way of saying firm things rather than avoiding it, and praise him when he does really well.

“The first day he was being really lazy. I asked him four times about doing the water because that’s his job. I said we really need this. The next day I woke up and he’d done everything.”

Carol praised Scarlett, to whom she had become very close, for being older than her years but “looking about 18″.

She said: “She’s fantastic, so funny and very bright, and her moral code is very straight and that I think is the difference. I’m sounding like an old mother now!”

The competition for this year’s stars to become King or Queen of the jungle will continue before someone is crowned the champion in the finale on Sunday December 4.

Scarlett, Sam and Martin remain in the running alongside ex-EastEnders star Larry Lamb, retired footballer Wayne Bridge, actor Adam Thomas and comedian Joel Dommett.

I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! returns on Thursday on ITV.