King of the Jungle Sam Thompson has reacted to fellow campmate Nigel Farage’s huge £1.5million I'm A Celebrity appearance fee.
The reality star and radio host reacted in shock to being told politician Farage was paid a staggering £1.5 million - rumoured to be the largest fee ever for an I’m A Celebrity contestant.
Thompson said he would have appeared on the ITV show - which he won with over 50 per cent of the public vote on Sunday night - for free and he would have done “anything” to go on the show.
Speaking to the Times after leaving the Australian jungle, Thompson, 31, said: “Mate, I would have done it for anything! I would have been a very, very easy negotiation. I would have paid them to be on it.”
In reference to his gruesome eating trial where he ate a variety of unusual animal parts, Thompson continued: “It wasn't monetary, or a career move, I genuinely wanted to go and eat camel's penis. I wanted to meet Ant [McPartlin] and Dec [Donnelly], they're my heroes, the most iconic people of my life.”
After learning of Nigel's vast show fee, the star said: “Was he? Bloody hell! I didn't have a clue. You could buy five houses for that!”
Thompson said he was aware of who Farage was when introduced to him in the jungle, but was keen to get to know him as he was clearly a “very fascinating guy.”
He said he suffered from “impostor syndrome” while in the jungle, adding he felt like “a competition winner” for being there at all.
He said because of that he “never had a down day” - but admitted he was worried he was “annoying” to other members of the camp with his “high energy.”
Thompson returned back to the UK earlier this week, and was reunited with his partner Zara McDermott.
Thompson and the former Love Island contestant, 26, were pictured looking overjoyed as they kissed and embraced each other at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday afternoon.
McDermott also surprised the new king of the jungle, who returned home with his close friend Pete Wicks, with a cluster of rainbow-coloured balloons which said “Welcome home”.
Reflecting on how he was feeling about his win after landing back in the UK, he told the PA news agency: “It hasn’t sunk in yet but I’ve had my best mate Pete out there so he’s been keeping me very grounded.
“I told him to call me king for a day and he didn’t even want to do that.
“It’s been a really, really fun couple of days.”
Thompson was announced as the winner of the ITV reality show on Sunday night after securing 56.6 per cent of the vote, with former professional boxer Tony Bellew coming second with 43.4 per cent, while former Ukip leader Farage took third place.
