Mike Tindall was able to avoid discussing Prince William and signalled to his fellow campmates to "back off" from the topic of the Royal Family on I'm A Celebrity last night, suggests body language expert Judi James.
The former rugby union player, 44 - who is married to the late Queen 's granddaughter Zara Tindall, 41 - is among this year's campmates. He has been in camp for two weeks.
He has already spoken on the ITV show about his wife, with whom he shares three children. Mike has also mentioned his mother-in-law Princess Anne, 72, whilst in the jungle.
Last night's episode saw Prince William, 40, brought up in camp. Body language expert Judi has shared her thoughts on the way Mike responded to his campmates in the scene.
It saw former footballer Jill Scott, 35, ask about King Charles III, 74. She asked if the monarch is "70-something," which seemed to get a "yeah" from fellow campmate Mike.
She continued to inquire while sat with him and singer Boy George, 61. She asked if Prince William is next in line to the throne and said she hopes he watches the ITV show.
And after Boy George said "of course he is," she said to Mike: "Since he's mates with you". Boy George teased: "He's not watching it cause Mike's on it. He's watching it cause I'm on it". Mike was seen open-mouthed over the remark.
Judi analysed the scene for Metro. She told that outlet that although Mike may appear "spontaneous," she doesn't believe there are any worries for the Royal Family over his jungle experience.
"His body language signals in the jungle suggest he is super-smart when it comes to switching to discretion mode," she commented about the campmate recently.
She speculated that his anecdotes have sounded "more scripted than off-the-cuff". Judi hinted he may have brought a "pre-packed tidbit" to ensure he wasn't accused of being "tight-lipped".
Discussing the scene involving Jill and Boy George, Judi suggested Mike was "very smart about tuning out" when needed but without coming across as "secretive".
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She said he produced some "very low response signals" when Jill asked about the monarch's age. She said this makes it seem as though it's a chat rather than him being quizzed.
Judi continued: "When William is mentioned we get a rounding of the cheeks to suggest affection but still no 'bite' from Mike in terms of adding to the conversation after his small noise of agreement over Charles' age."
The body language expert said that such are "great passive responses" to warn his campmates to "back off" but without portraying disapproval.
She said that when George "pushed" for a reaction with his remark about Prince William's reason for watching, Mike appeared open-mouthed but didn't verbally respond.
She commented about that particular moment: "[There were] still no active signals of communication to do anything but gently close down the subject".
Judi speculated that whilst the scene ended with laughter, she felt it displayed the campmates "testing" Mike's limits and "being politely shown when to back off".
I'm A Celebrity is set to conclude with its final on Sunday (November 27). It continues tonight (November 23) on ITV and ITV Hub from 9pm. You can catch up via ITV Hub.
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