Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I’ll vote Dad out
BY JAMIE REDKNAPP
FOOTBALL star Jamie Redknapp wants to boot his dad Harry out of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! – to reunite him and his wife.
Jamie says his mum Sandra desperately misses Harry when he is away.
Former footie manager Harry has gushed about her to his campmates and revealed he rings her constantly if he is not at home.
Jamie, 45, said: “I was actually really surprised when I found out he was going to be on because he didn’t tell me – I read it in the paper.
“He was like ‘If I had told you, you would have told me off ’. I’m going to try and vote him out. I want to get him to come home and see my mum and get him out of there.
“My mum is more nervous than anything as she misses him whenever they are apart.”
During a chat in the
Australian jungle during the ITV reality show, Harry told fellow contestants:
“Even when I’m out I ring her
10 times a day. She’s my life.
“I’m a bit scared, getting a bit older. I love her too much – if anything happened it would just kill me. We just get on so well, I only want to be with her.
“I can never wait to see her. Jamie says ‘you’ve won the lottery’.”
The couple, both 71, have been married for more than 50 years. They have another son, 48-year-old model Mark.
Former Liverpool and England midfielder Jamie, now a pundit on TV and team captain on comedy game show A League of Their Own, insisted he would not be following in his dad’s footsteps Down Under. Jamie said: “I would never do I’m a Celeb... or any other kind of reality show. It’s not my thing. I like my privacy. I’ve got no problem with people doing it, it’s just not for me.”
Stomach-churning footage from the jungle might give Jamie even more reason to steer clear of this particular reality programme – his dad has been shown with live witchetty grubs in his mouth during a bushtucker trial.
Harry has won over numerous viewers with his amusing anecdotes about his celebrity encounters.
He recalled how he accidentally snubbed Prince Harry and Princess Beatrice on separate occasions as he did not recognise them.
One person Redknapp Snr is yet to talk about is his all-time favourite footballer George Best, who died aged 59 in 2005 after a battle with alcoholism.
Jamie said: “I was such a fan of George Best... and he lived in our house actually.
“He was a genius. He never taught me any football skills but I wish he had.
“My dad always said he was the greatest player ever. He said he was so much better than anybody else, but also the most complete gentleman.
“It’s such a shame what happened to him. Probably if he played now it would be a totally different story.”