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Petition: Warne should donate reality show pay

The Shane Warne Foundation organised events like charity poker games. Photo: Getty

The Shane Warne Foundation organised events like charity poker games. Photo: Getty

An online petition calling for Shane Warne to donate his seven-figure pay cheque from his I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here appearance to charity has gathered almost 1300 signatures.

The petition, started on Wednesday by Patrick Bell on the website Change.org, calls for Warne to give his pay – which has been reported to be as high as $3 million – “back to the sick children he was supposed to be supporting through his Foundation”.

Just before midnight on Saturday, the petition had 1265 signatures.

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The Shane Warne Foundation, which was set-up by the leg-spinning great in 2004 to raise money for seriously ill and underprivileged children, recently announced its closure after an investigation into its finances.

Warne made the announcement in late January, and said that since opening it had given $3.67 million to organisations like the Starlight Foundation and families of ill children.

The Shane Warne Foundation organised events like charity poker games. Photo: Getty

The Shane Warne Foundation organised events like charity poker games. Photo: Getty

But a Fairfax report said the Foundation had spent as much as 86 per cent of money raised on expenses involved with staging lavish fundraising events.

And according to a recent report, the Foundation has been unable to explain what happened to cash donations from some of its high-profile fundraisers since 2012.

On the petition Mr Bell said he believes Warne is a “good bloke”, but that he believes the Foundation “lost its way”.

“Warne says he entered the jungle to reveal ‘the real him’,” Mr Bell wrote.

“Then he discussed his wealth, addiction to money and 20-car basement garage full of Lamborghinis.

“Let’s see the real you now, Warney – honour your promises to sick kids by donating your TV fee to help the maximum number of kids possible.”

The petition went live on Wednesday, before Warne clashed with Channel 10 personality Waleed Aly on an episode of The Project.

Warne bristled at what he perceived as disrespect from Aly over the charity’s closure.

“You doubting me, mate?” he said. “You think we’ve got something to hide?”

Warne then seemingly referenced the incident on Twitter.

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