King’ Arry
» I was miserable.. jungle taught me to laugh again » My secrets for 51 years of wonderful married life
HARRY Redknapp hinted he would like to see son Jamie with campmate Emily Atack – now she has “scrubbed up”.
The Jungle King, 71, joked she did not have a chance when she made a play for the ex-footballer as they slummed it in camp.
Comparing Emily during and after I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, which she left as runnerup, Harry said yesterday: “I’ll be honest, when I saw her in the jungle I thought, ‘No chance’.
“I thought, ‘No, you ain’t got a prayer’. But I’ve seen her today when she’s scrubbed up and she looks all right, I’m telling you.
“She looks very useful, she looks good. I went, ‘Who are you?’. She went, ‘I was in the jungle with you’, but I went, ‘I haven’t seen you before’.” Harry spoke at Palazzo Versace hotel on the Gold Coast, Queensland – where Emily, 28, posed for photos – before spending time with his wife Sandra. The ex-football boss said: “I love her like mad, she’s my life.” He added of their 51-year marriage: “We just get on so well together, I
just love being with her. You couldn’t have a row with Sandra if you tried.
“The secret is don’t have an argument until the next day, when you’ve forgotten what the argument is about.”
But asked if his jungle skills mean he will help more at home, he said: “I think she’s OK [with me] as I am. I shout out, ‘Sand, the telly’s gone off’. She don’t mind, she’s unbelievable.”
Harry also told how he turned down I’m A Celebrity until his grandchildren got involved. He said: “The grandkids drove me mad saying, ‘Please – Pop, Pop, do it’, and Sandra said they were so upset I wasn’t doing it.
“My grandkids will be jumping around the living room now and be so excited. I never won the Premier League but I won this.”
He added of his experience: “I’ve learnt to laugh again. I became a miserable git when I was a football manager for 35 years, but I’ve come in here and laughed myself to sleep at times.” Divorced Jamie, 45, who shared a clip of his celebrations when his dad won, thanked the campmates for looking after Harry. He said: “He’s useless around the house, so thank you to all the guys, you were so kind to him. Dad, all the kids are so proud of you.” After leaving camp yesterday, Harry caught up on jam roly-poly and the football results. Fellow contestants Malique Thompson Dwyer, Fleur East and Rita Simons caught up at the hotel.
James McVey, his girlfriend Kirstie Brittain and show co-host Holly Willoughby joined them later at the wrap party. John Barrowman was earlier seen with Extra Camp host Scarlett Moffatt.
Harry now has deals to look at including a book and a TV show with jungle pal Noel Edmonds.