Anarchy in the jungle: Lydon joins cast of 'I'm a Celebrity'

At the height of the punk era he declared himself an anarchist and antichrist and branded the Queen a "f****** German tourist".

Decades after shocking the nation as the frontman of the Sex Pistols, John Lydon has gone mainstream by agreeing to appear on the third series of I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!

Lydon, formerly known as Johnny Rotten, was yesterday confirmed by ITV as one of 10 contestants who will fly to the Australian rainforest where the reality show is set.

Bookmakers have made Lydon 3/1 joint favourite with Neil "Razor" Ruddock, the former Premiership footballer renowned for his bad behaviour on the pitch.

The other contestants are Jordan, the glamour model, George Best's estranged wife Alex, the former pop star Peter Andre, Jennie Bond, the former BBC royal correspondent, Diane Modahl, a former Olympic athlete, Lord Brocket, a convicted fraudster, ex-Atomic Kitten Kerry McFadden and the DJ Mike Read. Some of the participants were said to be unhappy with a fee of £50,000 compared to a reported £100,000 for Jordan.

Last year the average audience was 9.5 million compared to 7.7 million for the first series. Natalka Znak, the executive producer, said: "We've assembled the most unpredictable cast yet - and anything could happen." The first show was won by the DJ Tony Blackburn and last year's winner was Phil Tufnell, the former England cricketer.The new series starts on Monday on ITV1.