Mrs. Blago Subbing for Hubby, But Is She Really Celebrity?

Thu., May. 21, 2009 7:39 AM PDT by Josh Grossberg

AP Photo/Seth Perlman

Rod Blagojevich can't do it, so NBC went to Plan (Mrs.) B.

After a judge refused to allow the indicted former Illinois governor to travel to Costa Rica to shoot NBC's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, his wife, Patti Blagojevich, will now take his spot on the reality series due to premiere in June.

The Blagos took to NBC's Today Show this morning for the announcement.

"I don't feel I'm a celebrity. NBC wanted my husband on the show, and when he was unable to go, they expressed interest in me," she said. "In this terrible economic time, I feel it's necessary to go to work to support my family."

While we're with Mrs. B in doubting her celeb status, it's not like the Peacock is pulling out the A-listers for the boot-camp reality endeavor. She'll be mixing it up with the likes Janice Dickinson, Stephen Baldwin, Heidi and Spencer Pratt and ex-American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar.

NBC has previously said it still wanted to work the former governor into the show, which is set to premiere June 1.