Mike Tindall swiftly swerved the conversation surrounding Prince William on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! on Tuesday night.
So far, Mike has avoided chatting too deeply about his ties to the Royal Family but has mentioned some sweet details about his relationship with wife Zara Tindall. Body language expert Judi James told Metro.co.uk that the former Rugby stars' demeanour during the conversation signalled his campmates to "back off" the subject.
Once Mike was announced to join the I'm A Celeb line-up, royal fans had been eager to know exactly how much information the sportsman would divulge about his in-laws. Judi added that ‘smart’ body language signals show how he’s able to switch into ‘discretion mode’.
During Tuesday night's instalment, Lioness Jill Scott asked Mike and Boy George how old the King is, guessing he was ‘70-something’ - close to the monarch’s age of 74. She then asked if the throne will ‘go to William next’, before expressing her hope that the Prince of Wales is tuning in to watch the ITV programme.
As the chat turned to his close pal Prince William, Mike stayed silent but smiled faintly as Boy George remarked that the future King would definitely be tuning in to the show. After Jill mentioned that the Prince is ‘mates’ with Mike, the Culture Club singer joked: "He’s not watching it because Mike’s on it. He’s watching it because I’m on it."
There's been reports that William and wife Kate Middleton aren't happy at Mike's stint on the reality show, and are "very upset" about some of the stories he's relayed about Zara and his mother in law Princess Anne. Judi told the publication that Mike, despite appearing as a ‘spontaneous, risk-taking kind of guy’, there will be worries at the palace over his appearance on the show.
"His body language signals in the jungle suggest he is super-smart when it comes to switching to discretion mode," she said.
The body language expert speculated that Mike’s anecdotes have sounded ‘more scripted than off-the-cuff’, with the former sportsman having a "pre-packed titbit that ensured no one would accuse him of being tight-lipped during this TV appearance".
Speaking of Mike's conversation with George and Jill about William, Judi added he was "very smart about tuning out when necessary but without looking precious or secretive".
"Lying on his back he produces some very low response signals when Jill starts to ask about Charles’s age, making it look as though she’s just chatting to the group rather than quizzing Mike personally," she outlined.
"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’s age. These are great passive responses to warn the rest of the group to back off but without looking or sounding reproving."
Judi said that when George ‘pushed’ Mike for a reaction by claiming that Prince William wasn’t watching for him, Mike responded with "an open mouth of mock shock but still no active signals of communication to do anything but gently close down the subject".
"It ends with laughter but we can still see the others testing Mike’s parameters and being politely shown when to back off," she added.
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! continues tonight on STV at 9pm.
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