He retired from cricket a long time ago, but Shane Warne, the game's most successful legspinner, remains in the limelight. His antics off the field and his love life in particular have always grabbed attention. But even by his standards, the events of this past week have been particularly bizarre, culminating in the 46-year-old being bitten on the head by a snake.
Warne is a participant on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here, a reality television show where a dozen celebrities live together in a jungle for a few weeks and compete with each other in various tasks to be crowned the winner. Earlier this week, Warne stoked controversy on the show when he revived an old feud with his former captain Steve Waugh, calling him "the most selfish cricketer" he had ever played with. The duo won two World Cups together.
A couple of days later, Warne changed the subject to the theory of evolution. Questioning Charles Darwin, he said that if all humans really did evolve from monkeys, “then why haven’t those ones [monkeys today] evolved?... I'm saying aliens. We started from aliens.”
His remarks on evolution elicited some hilarious responses on social media, though some of them tended to get a bit too personal:
Shane Warne claims mankind evolved from aliens, presumably with strange plastic faces and unnaturally white teeth.
— HaveIGotNewsForYou (@haveigotnews) February 15, 2016
Shane Warne's theory of evolution pic.twitter.com/qIt6OJIE4Z
— Tom Ruzyllo (@truzyllo) February 15, 2016
Shane Warne thinks that humans evolved from aliens? Would explain why he's looking more and more like one himself... pic.twitter.com/jeKlX6IvRB
— Alt Cricket (@AltCricket) February 15, 2016
In that same clip, he also explained why the pyramids could not have been built by humans. He said: "You couldn't pull a bit of rope, those big huge bits of brick, and make them perfectly symmetrical. So who did it?"
Now, a promotional clip for the reality show shows Warne suffering a snakebite after dipping his head into a box full of reptiles. The reptile that did the damage was a juvenile anaconda, said to be non-venomous but very aggressive. Fortunately, the retired cricketer was treated immediately by medics and representatives for the broadcasters of the show said that Warne had escaped with a few marks and there would be no permanent scarring.
With no serious damage done, social media felt at ease to have a laugh over the incident. Here's a selection:
That feeling you're getting?
— Alt Cricket (@AltCricket) February 18, 2016
Of taking delight in Shane Warne's misfortune?
I believe the Germans have a word for it: #Shanefreude
Spitting Cobra...trying the get the Shane Warne taste out of his mouth. https://t.co/wTsQuCexC5
— HoekomSoPodcast (@HoekomSoPodcast) February 18, 2016
Was thinking something more like this when I read the headline 'Shane Warne attacked by Anaconda' #ImACelebrityAU pic.twitter.com/sU8GB3Z2Zs
— Mike Moore (@_mikeamoore) February 18, 2016
Shane Warne bitten by a snake...it's ok...thje snake is fine
— barrie duggan (@barrieduggan1) February 18, 2016
Shane Warne has been bitten on the head by an anaconda. Life has truely either peaked or bottomed out.
— Jon Hotten (@theoldbatsman) February 18, 2016
I suppose "Shane Warne gets headbutted by non venomous tiny snake" doesn't have the same ring to it. #ImACelebrityAU
— Higgo (@Higgo74) February 18, 2016
After Shane Warne got bitten by Anaconda, Steve Waugh is campaigning to get Order of Australia for that Anaconda
— Rahul Singh (@rahulksingh291) February 18, 2016
Shane Warne learning about natural selection. pic.twitter.com/nNJG7FAlAZ
— Titus O'Reily (@TitusOReily) February 18, 2016
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