Boy George threatened to quit UK I’m A Celebrity in an explosive rant at crew after they refused him a ride in a golf buggy.
The musician, 61, stormed off, stole an apple from the crew then hid behind trees so he could not be filmed, The Sun reports.
Stunned producers desperately tried to persuade him to stay, eventually calming down the singer.
However, bosses later held crisis talks amid fears the star – one of the best-paid campmates ever – could still go.
Sources last night revealed George – who has been at the centre of a string of flashpoints already this series – went into meltdown mode following a Bushtucker Trial.
The singer told crew that he was exhausted and demanded to be ferried back to camp in one of the crew buggies, as Coronation Street’s Sue Cleaver was.
However, he was informed that would not be fair on the others.
So rather than face the strenuous walk back, he stormed into a producer’s tent then hid in the jungle.
One insider said: “Sue is allowed to be driven in a golf buggy under special conditions, but the rest of the campmates had to walk back from the trial which involved a steep hill.
“George threw a massive strop and demanded to be driven in his own buggy – but ITV were having none of it as they said it would not be fair on the others.
“He then stormed into one of the production crew tents and pinched an apple, before hiding behind trees so that he couldn’t be filmed by any of the show’s cameras.
“It was a proper temper tantrum, but George wasn’t backing down.
“He was threatening to walk out of the show, and in that moment he probably would have done.
“Luckily one of the producers was able to retrieve him, sit him down in a tent and convince him not to leave.
“It was a real storm in a teacup, and thankfully in the end he recognised that and agreed to go back to camp.”
It was the latest flare-up involving the singer, who had vowed not to be a diva before heading to the filming location in northern NSW.
He claimed he had managed to tame his wild ways with yoga and Buddhism, and not waste his energy on “pointless” squabbles.
However, just hours after arriving in the camp, the pop star – real name George O’Dowd – laid into campmate TV host Charlene White for being “bossy” by cooking the celebrities’ dinners.
Friday night’s show saw him clash with former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, accusing him of giving him a “funny look”.
Speaking to UK comedian Seann Walsh, George branded Hancock “slippery” and “slimy”, before the politician then unexpectedly joined them.
George, who has made no secret of his dislike for Tories, told him: “I have been hating on you, I have to be honest.
“I sometimes feel like you don’t say what you mean and you’re not particularly direct.”
He went on: “I’m trying to separate you as a human being and you as a politician and I’m struggling with it.
“We don’t share the same politics. I am struggling a little bit with you. That’s not your problem, that’s my problem.
“I apologise because I was really slagging you off a minute ago.”
Last week the star was also seen blasting campmate Scarlette Douglas after she tried to quiz him on his criminal past.
In 2009, George was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the false imprisonment and assault of Norwegian model Audun Carlsen.
When Scarlette asked him what had happened, wrongly mentioning a “radiator”, he snapped: “That’s not true … it’s not true.
“But thanks for bringing it up. Sometimes these things go into the ether and become folklore. Good job I know what the full story was.
“The best way to explain my thing, Scarlette, if I beat someone up there would be photographs.”
He went on: “There was no photos because I didn’t do that. But I did do one thing. I did handcuff him, yeah.
“Because I’d handcuffed the guy I’d already assaulted him. So, when I said, ‘I did it’, I thought, ‘I’ll tell the truth, they’ll let me go home.’
“I went to prison for four months. I was on tag for four months as well.”
He later raged in the Bush Telegraph: “Scarlette blatantly talked about my court case. I thought it was inappropriate what she did, actually.”
An ITV spokesman last night declined to comment.
The article originally appeared in The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission