Which members of the royal family do you think will be watching Paul Burrell on I’m A Celebrity South Africa?, the actor has revealed.
The 64-year-old former royal butler will compete in the bushtucker trials once again alongside celebrities including Carol Vorderman, Phil Tufnell, and Shaun Ryder for a special 2022 South African version of I’m A Celebrity.
He’s prepared to confront his worries once more after successfully completing the Australian jungle in 2004.
Additionally, Mike Tindall believes that members of the royal family may be watching after his appearance on I’m A Celebrity last year.
When asked if he thinks any royals will be watching, Paul told Metro.co.uk and other press: ‘Charles and Camilla haven’t got the time to sit down and watch the jungle – look at the timing of it! It’s smack bang in the middle of the coronation.
‘For me, it’s a double whammy because I didn’t realise it’s going to be aired over the coronation, we didn’t know what date the coronation was then.’
Then, in jest, he pleaded with ITV executives “please not” to air his video on coronation night because he would be “embarrassed.”
Paul continued: ‘I think Zara and that lot will be watching, the younger element of the royal family will be watching.
‘Especially because Mike has been through it, and once you’ve been in it, you’re hooked.’
At the conclusion, Zara Phillips, Princess Anne’s daughter, joined Mike, who had just become the first royal ever on the programme.
Along with entertaining audiences with his impressive rapping abilities, he also told an incredibly private (but hilarious) anecdote about Princess Anne when he was in the jungle.
Paul, who finished his radiation treatment for cancer earlier this month and who really credits I’m A Celebrity with’saving his life’ when the medical exams discovered his disease early on, was filming in South Africa when Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96.
He had the option to go home at the moment, but he chose to stay.
Asked if he watched the coverage when he did return from South Africa, Paul told Lorraine Kelly on Friday: ‘I did. But you know, whilst I was there in South Africa, the ITV team said, “Do you wanna go home Paul? You can go home if you want to?”
‘I said, “Listen, I’m better here. This is my sanctuary right now. If I go back home, it’ll be a circus and I’ll be sucked into that world. So let me stay here with the other celebrities, and I’ll share my grief with them.” Because it was their Queen too!’
When thinking on how he joined the Palace service at the age of 18, he referred to the Queen as his “surrogate mother.”
‘I went to Buckingham Palace when I was 18 years old, she became my surrogate mother. I know that’s difficult for people to understand, but living with someone in close proximity for 11 years, you do begin to love them,’ he said.
‘And I loved the Queen. She was a wonderful, wonderful lady. For me, she influenced my life, she shaped me – along with Diana later. They made me the man I am today. I have great respect and admiration for our late Queen.’
I’m A Celebrity… South Africa starts Monday at 9pm and all week on ITV1 and ITVX.