Edwina Currie back at home spills the beans on life in the jungle
Despite conflict with a fellow camp-mate, Edwina Currie looks back in fondness at her time in the jungle on I’m A Celebrity……… Get Me Out of Here! Suzanne Baum speaks to the former MP
She may not be everyone’s cup of tea but 68-year-old Currie has attracted a new following of younger fans, thanks to her recent appearance in I’m A Celebrity. Adamant she would be voted out at the start of the programme, Currie can’t hide her delight at the fact she came fourth in the episode, missing the final by one day.
“I am feeling absolutely wonderful and am simply astonished that people kept me in for so long,” enthused Currie from her Derbyshire home. “I never thought I’d last so long.
“The lack of food really can play havoc with your mind but because I never felt as though I was starving I found the experience better than I expected. It meant my mood didn’t sway like the other camp mates.
“I went in to the jungle two and a half stone heavier than I should be; I was so bulked up with chicken soup it was literally hanging off my hips. It was participants like Michael Buerk who went into the jungle thin that suffered the most.”
Although she is a fan of Heimishe delicacies, when it came to eating jungle food Currie admits she had to “grin and bear it” for the sake of survival.
“I think the Rabbis will forgive me for eating all sorts of non-kosher food in the jungle.
“I’m sure there is a saying in the religion that if it is necessary to eat to survive then you must. The good news is there was no pork and even though the black chicken we won one night looked disgusting, I just had to eat it with my eyes closed and it tasted delicious.”
The only thing Currie couldn’t stomach was the octopus, describing it as “grotesque”- a word which I wouldn’t be too surprised she were to use when describing campmate Kendra -the blonde ex-girlfriend of Hugh Hefner who Currie had a bust-up with in the jungle.
“I won’t stay in touch with her, absolutely no way” Currie told the Jewish News. “However, I loved the friendships I made in the jungle and will definitely stay mates with Jimmy Bullard and Carl ‘Foggy’ Fogarty who are ace-geezers.”
The former politician, who lost over seven kilos, is still trying to come to terms with her jungle experience, which she believes was a lot easier than her work as an MP.
“My years as a government minister were a lot tougher as I had so much more responsibility. “However, in the jungle I lived life at a simple and slow pace and am astonished I lasted so long.”
Laughing at the rumours surrounding the fact she flirted with fellow camp-mate Jake Quickenden, Currie is adamant the only man for her is husband John Jones, who she left behind to “man the fort.”
As for future plans, it seems Currie will be enjoying more of her home comforts, having chosen to spend her jungle earnings on adding a new extension to the couple’s home.
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