Frankie Dettori has spoken in depth on I'm A Celebrity 2023 about why he abandoned his horse racing retirement plans, talking about how much he enjoyed the crowd chanting his name when he landed a race.
The 52-year-old jockey stunned the horse racing world when he announced last year that the 2023 season would be his final in the saddle. And then the Italian-born sporting sensation surprised the racing world even more by telling them he wasn’t retiring anymore in October. Instead, Frankie is heading to America where he plans to continue his riding career.
On last night's I'm A Celeb, Frankie confessed: "I got to the beginning of the season, I thought I’m 52, I’ve had a great life riding, and I'm on the top at the moment. I might as well stop at the top. So I announced: 'Right, this is my last year, going to say my last goodbyes.' Announced it to the world, [then] went to California for four months, smashed it, did really well. Then I came back to England, kept on winning, kept on winning… and I got to August, the season stops in October and I thought, 'I don’t really want to retire!'"
He added: "You’re winning, the crowd is shouting your name".
Jamie Lynn Spears asked him what he was like racing in top-class class races and whether it was different when he was riding a top horse. He replied: "Of course, like in any sport, when you're at the top level the margins are so small. It's a bit like Formula 1. Why is one driver faster than the other when they've got the same cars?"
He also talked about how he’d grown up in the sport, saying: "I was born in racing, my dad was a jockey. I was practically born on a horse really. Then I had good teachers… the rest is history.”
Just like you wouldn’t bet against Frankie winning at Royal Ascot, you also wouldn’t be against him winning I’m A Celebrity. The charismatic figure is currently the fourth favourite to win the ITV show. We have a full recap of episode 5's I'm A Celeb you can read.
