Kerry: “There will never be a campsite romance like Pete & Jordan again!”
As I’m A Celeb! returns, former Jungle Queen Kerry Katona gives Closer her thoughts on the new location, and why her series of the hit jungle show will always have the best love story
It’s been almost 17 years since she was crowned Queen of the Jungle in the third series of I’m A Celeb!, but Kerry Katona insists her big win was overshadowed by fellow contestants Jordan and Peter Andre falling in love on the show.
Through hammock heart-to-hearts and even practising sex positions in broad daylight, the nation was gripped by the pair’s love story. Although they split in 2009, Kerry doesn’t believe I’m A Celeb! will produce another fairy-tale romance like it.
Kerry, 40, tells Closer, “It’s always Pete and Kate that people speak about. I don’t know how I won it. I always find it hilarious when people go, ‘Were you in the jungle? I don’t remember watching that!’ And I say, ‘I was in there with Pete and Kate’, and they go, ‘Oh, I remember that now!’ And then I tell them, ‘I bloody won it!’
“They [the producers] always try to recreate that and you’re never, ever going to get it. That was a complete one-off. They tried it with Joey Essex and Amy Willerton, but I don’t think it’ll ever work again.”
This time, of course, the series has moved from the tropical jungle in Australia at the height of summer, to ancient Gwrych Castle in north Wales during the UK winter, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And mum-of-five Kerry admits she would struggle if she were part of the celebrity line-up in this year’s series, and predicts the celebrities – including Olympian Sir Mo Farah and TV host Vernon Kay – will, too.
“Without a doubt, this series will be a million times harder for them,” she says. “I think a lot of people are going to be frazzled and do outrageous things that they wouldn’t normally do, because they’ll be cold and wet, living outside, possibly with people they don’t like, and having no food – they will become very irritable, very quickly. It’s going to be extremely difficult for them but, my God, it’s going to make great entertainment!”
A year after winning the show, Kerry was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She says, “I would be gutted if I’d signed up this year and they told me it was in the UK in winter – it’s just not exotic, unlike the Australian summer. I also really struggle with long, dark nights because of my bipolar, and the celebs will find that their days seem a lot longer.
“Beverley Callard is in it, and she is a fellow bipolar sufferer. All I did the first week was cry and say, ‘I just want to go home.’ So my advice to her would be to give it time, find your feet, and get a routine.
“I do feel sorry for them all though, because they have lost the only perks the show offered. One of the best things as a contestant is getting on that 24-hour flight all the way over to Australia, first bloody class!
“That’s what I looked
‘I’d be gutted if they’d told me it was in the UK in winter!’
forward to more than anything. And I thought, ‘If f I get kicked out, I’ll just go on the p*ss with Ant and Dec in Australia.’ But because I won, I had to go home the next day and didn’t get a chance to do that.”
For Kerry, though – who famously spent her childhood in and out of foster care – her biggest achievement of the show was winning over the public.
She says, “It was feeling the love of the nation. That to me is something I’ve never felt before. Because of my past, winning and knowing all these people voted for me was such an overwhelming feeling.
“I am really looking forward to seeing how this series turns out – I think it’ll be great entertainment, and exactly what the country needs right now.”
By Lisa Blake