Granddaddy proved the doubters wrong
Watching Stanley Johnson in the jungle has been bizarre but brilliant, says his grandson Oliver Dawnay
When my grandfather Stanley Johnson entered the jungle, his son – and my uncle – Boris made this prediction: “I am sure he will do brilliantly. He has vast experience of jungles of all kinds and, as far as I know, he will eat almost anything within reason.”
Well, his words were proved almost correct during Granddaddy’s time in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Taking part in the live trial, he smashed it out of the park, eating all the bugs served up to him and claiming “they were delicious”. He appeared, if not at home in the jungle, at least no more discomforted by it than any of the other contestants. And as Boris foresaw, he did do brilliantly – of that there is no doubt. On Wednesday night, viewers watched as my grandfather finally left the jungle just four days before the final. I for one won’t enjoy it as much now. But then, it’s fair to say I’m biased.
It has been bizarre to watch 17 nights of Granddaddy rubbing along with a group of “celebrity” strangers he’d never heard of in an ITV reality show he’d never watched. But to see him win the hearts of those in the camp, and the viewing public, made it all worth it.
In case you weren’t as glued to it as I was, Granddaddy was the main provider of “Dad jokes” (or Granddad puns), setting the tone on day one when he claimed he was a “very happy chappy, Shappi” when partnered with the comedian Shappi Khorsandi. “When the going gets tough, Toff gets going” – his words of encouragement to Made in Chelsea’s Georgia Toffolo – was another dreadful classic.
But it wasn’t all jokes: he also formed strong relationships, getting on so well with Toff, 54 years his junior, that his departure left her in tears. “Age is not a barrier for people to have things in common,” Stanley said of this unlikely friendship. And have things in common they do: The Lady magazine, for which Toff works, was formerly edited by Stanley’s daughter, my mum Rachel Johnson. Toff is also a sucker for an older politician and Stanley fits the bill – he was an MEP from 1979 to 1984.
But if Stanley and Toff were the token posh folk, the other contestants were quite far removed from the type Granddaddy tends to mix with. It’s hard to imagine him coming across anyone as clueless as boxer Amir Khan in the real world, for example. “Has a woman ever become prime minister?” was one gem of Khan’s that will no doubt have stunned my grandfather. But Stanley is no snob. Though shocked at Khan’s ignorance, he politely observed that “his mind is unsullied” and went on to bond with him around the campfire.
However, when it came to popular culture, it was Stanley’s mind that turned out to be “unsullied”. Even I was shocked that he didn’t know who Madonna was. I didn’t so much cringe as shake my head in fond wonder.
But being a little out of touch doesn’t make him any the less close to his 12 grandchildren. We can talk to him for hours and have shared our best times with him on the remote farm where he and his children (Boris, journalist Rachel, government minister Jo, PWC partner Leo, and Julia and Max from his second marriage) grew up.
When the show began, there were some who questioned why Stanley was there. They thought of him only as Boris’s father and saw him as an early leaver. They were of course wrong: not only has he had a hugely successful career himself as a politician, author and environmentalist, he defied expectations in the jungle. Indeed, he seemed to breeze through it, despite his poor maths and typical refusal to back down when he was wrong.
But what you saw on TV was what you get in real life – enormously personable, hugely ambitious and never afraid to get his hands dirty. Especially if there’s a prize to be won.
His departure will leave the show all the less joyous, and he’s quite disappointed to have been booted out. But I know Granddaddy won’t sulk for long. He’s a Johnson, after all: he’ll pick himself up, dust himself off, and set about the next challenge with great gusto and humour.
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! is on ITV nightly, 9pm. The final is on Sunday