HARRY’S KING OF JUNGLE
Ex-football boss beats John Barrowman and Emily Atack to win reality telly show
HARRY Redknapp is planning a “jungle book” about his time in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! – and it will land him far more than his £500,000 appearance fee.
The former football manager had a series of big-money deals lined up even before he was crowned king of the jungle last night.
Publishers were scrambling to snap up what is sure to become a bestselling new autobiography that includes tales about his time on the ITV show.
After being announced as the winner, Harry, 71, said he could never have done it without his camp-mates.
He added: “When I first came in and I looked at the group, I thought, ‘I’m in trouble here’.
“They just dragged me through it. They’re the most lovely people I have ever met. Without them, I wouldn’t have survived.
“They have hauled me up hills and dragged me through the water. They said ‘Come on Harry, you can do it’.”
Harry beat Inbetweeners star Emily Atack into second place. Scots actor John Barrowman was third.
Harry said being on the show had taught him how to laugh again after a career in the “serious business” of football.
He added: “It’s been a great experience. I’ve loved it. It’s been amazing. My mates all said, ‘You’ll last two days Harry’, that I’d miss my family and football. I’ve laughed and laughed and laughed. It’s been brilliant.”
Harry, who had never watched the show before, won over viewers from the start with his anecdotes and love of his wife Sandra.
Campmates who left the show said he spoke of her every day as “my life”. When she was allowed briefly into camp as part of a reunion last week, it left Harry in tears and melted viewers’ hearts.
Harry also built up an unlikely friendship with Noel Edmonds, who was a late entry to the camp and chose Harry as his adviser when he was emperor.
After leaving the show Noel, 69, told how he made Harry laugh.
He added: “Harry said, ‘I didn’t laugh when I was a full-time football manager.’
“He said the stress and the strain and how quickly you are exposed to people hating you impacted on him and he couldn’t sleep.
“Then he said, ‘I became a miserable b ***** d. I haven’t laughed this much until I met you’.”
Noel said there is an offer for the pair to make their own TV show next year if Harry wants to sign up.
But before any deals are done, Harry is expected today to tuck into some of the foods he has missed most – stew and dumplings, cheese rolls and jam roly-poly, which he mentioned almost daily in the jungle.
He added: “I can’t wait to kiss Sandra and have a shower.”
Harry has already written five books and is now expected to bring out a sixth one covering the past five years, including tales about I’m A Celebrity and his personal life with Sandra.
It is understood several publishers are lining up offers.
Talking about his jungle high points, he said he “ruined Frank Sinatra” by singing My Way during a karaoke session on the show last week.
But he added: “It’s been amazing and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
Emily, 28, said it was “an honour” to have made it to the final two with Harry.
She said she felt she could be a “jungle princess” with Harry as king and said being in the camp had taught her to accept herself.
Emily added: “I’ve learned I can survive in the jungle so I feel like I can do anything.
“This place has given me so much self-acceptance. I’ve just learned to accept who I am.” Emily said she was “still terrified of everything” but now feels
able to get through anything.