I’M A CELEB MY GIRL CAN BE JUNGLE QUEEN
Proud mum backs her Emily for TV glory
BY MARK JEFFERIES on Oz Gold Coast EMILY Atack’s childhood set her up to be a jungle queen, according to her mum.
Kate Robins opened her photo album to the Mirror, showing her daughter as a child feeding sheep and playing with her dog.
Proud Kate, 60, said: “She has loved animals and forests since she was little so I just see the little girl in her again in the jungle. She has reverted back to a 12-year-old and seems to be having fun in there, which is great to see.”
Growing up in Bedfordshire, Emily used to be taken to Stockgrove Country Park, Mead Open Farm and Woburn Safari Park.
She said: “Her dad used to take her camping too and she loved all that.
“When she was a very little girl, aged five, she stood on a snail shell and I said, ‘Don’t do that’. She asked why and I said, ‘You’ve killed that animal’s home’ and she cried for two days and still talks about it. She has always loved animals and the outdoors.
“Growing up she had two white kittens, lots of goldfish, and she loved our big dog Rosie. She is a real animal lover.
“I noticed when she did the trial she said something that made me howl laughing. She asked, ‘Is the snake OK?’ That is typical.”
Viewers warmed to The Inbetweeners star Emily when she conquered her fears at the start of the week with the trial Viper Pit.
And on Wednesday she had viewers in stitches as she showed off her impressions of TOWIE’s Gemma Collins and This Morning’s host Ruth Langsford. Even Ruth’s husband Eamonn Holmes told Kate it was “hilarious”. Kate, a TV impressionist and comedian, said Emily was cracking jokes from an early age, making her sister Martha and brother George join in with her games. She explained: “From the age of five or six she’d be doing voices. I used to hear her say to her brother and sister, ‘Right let’s play rough mothers’. I don’t know whether she had seen Jeremy Kyle. “Most people only know her as the glamorous girl in The Inbetweeners but going in the jungle, people get to see other sides to you.” Kate insisted Emily would not suffer fools and will confront people if they are out of line. She said: “She will stand up for herself, she has got self respect.” Emily comes from a big family meaning more than a dozen cousins are cheering her on, including members of Beatle Paul McCartney’s family, as he is Kate’s cousin. Kate added: “We are a close family and like any other you are rooting for your relatives. Could she win it? I just want my daughter to be happy and healthy. “Of course she could win it but you don’t know who the public will vote for. I wouldn’t want her to be first out but someone has to be.”
■Emily Atack is doing her first solo comedy tour Talk Thirty To Me in the New Year. Find details at emilyatacklive.com