Ruthie Henshall details supernatural experience ahead of IAC arrival

Ruthie Henshall has claimed she communes with “theatre ghosts” ahead of her arrival on I’m A Celebrity… Get Out Of Here!

The musical theatre star, 53, said she believes there might be a “tiny bit of Judy Garland fairy dust” left inside the London Palladium.

Henshall and classical singer Russell Watson, also 53, have been announced as late arrivals for the 2020 series of the ITV show.

Speaking ahead of her debut at Gwrych Castle in North Wales, Henshall said she believed in ghosts and was worried she would frighten herself “to death” if she encountered one there.

She said: “I don’t know whether I saw a ghost or not but I think I did when I was younger.

“I don’t know whether I would frighten myself to death really and (get) myself into a state but I don’t think this is just it.

“There has to be something going on because there are certain things that you can’t explain and I would like to think that our loved ones are still with us, so if that is the case then yeah maybe there are ghosts.”

Henshall, who has starred in Cats and Les Miserables in the West End, also revealed she always thanks the “theatre ghosts” after her final performance inside a venue.

Referring to the tradition of leaving a lit lamp on an otherwise empty stage in between performances, she said: “Whenever I go into a theatre once I have finished the show, the last thing I do when I have ended the contract…I always go out when the ghost light is on.

“So everybody has left the theatre and I will go onto the stage with the ghost light and thank the theatre and all the theatre ghosts for having me for however long I have been in that theatre.

“I think that when people perform, if you are performing in the Palladium just maybe a tiny bit of Judy Garland fairy dust is still in there.

“That’s just one of my traditions. I just thank the theatre and the theatre ghosts for having me.”

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