A celebrity can't eat a live spider on TV any more without everyone getting upset...

How much would you have to be paid to do this?

Having successfully avoided ever watching I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! I am nonetheless familiar with its M.O.: get D-grade celebrities to consume disgusting “food” for the amusement of the masses.

The UK version of the show has come under fire from animal activists and those with general human decency for a barely watchable segment in which The Only Way is Essex star Ferne McCann ate a live spider.

The UK show, which is wildly popular and has been screening for 12 years, is filmed in Murwillumbah, NSW.

A regular feature is the Bush Tucker Trial. Past delicacies include crickets, worms, witchetty grubs, roasted spiders, the genitalia of both male and female of various creatures such as kangaroos and crocodiles, fish and sheep eyeballs and various parts of rats and mice.

I honestly can’t imagine how dire the straits must have been for anyone who agreed to be on this show.

McCann, 25, was challenged to eat a live spider, whole, in order to win food (actual food) for one of her teammates.

The water spider is trapped in a glass of water, which McCann swirls around, screaming, as she prevaricates.

She finally tips the glass back and eats the creature, much to the surprise of longtime hosts Ant and Dec.

It’s really awful. Watch it here if you dare.

“It smelled of cockroach, tasted dirty, the body was mushy and gunky and the legs were spiky and crunchy,” McCann said.

PETA has expressed its horror at the latest stunt.

Associate director of PETA UK, Elisa Allen, told Mirror Online: “Time and time again, this program has shown a complete disregard for sentient life and a lack of creativity, evidenced by the fact that it has repeated the same tacky and inhumane stunts for more than a decade.

“All animals – not just the ones who are considered cute and cuddly – want to live free from harm. It’s time for the producers of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me out of Here! to be called not just before the court of public opinion but also before a court of law.”

McCann also ate lambs brain, a witchetty grub (live, obvs) and a bull’s penis.

Charming.

Oh yeah, and the Australian version of the show enters its second season in the South African jungle next year.

Watch a teaser here…