Former England rugby player Mike Tindall and his royal wife Zara's emotional reunion on the famous I'm A Celebrity bridge melted hearts on Saturday night (November 26). The sportsman looked delighted as hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly told him that Zara was waiting for him at the end of his exit interview.
Mike, who came fourth in the long-running ITV jungle reality show, wrapped his arms around his wife. He was heard saying "I've missed you so much" as they folded into a loving embrace.
Mike, 44, then asked Zara "are you okay?" as they hugged. There had been speculation over whether Zara would meet Mike, as is a tradition for loved-ones of the celeb campmates in Australia.
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Mike later shared an adorable picture on Instagram of the pair gazing lovingly at each other as he wrote with a love heart emoji: "Reunited!!! Back to normality and time to eat!!! Thanks for all the kind messages! It was a blast! #imaceleb #familytime." After all the rice and beans in the jungle Mike's photos turned to food as he posted snaps of a crumpet with butter and a burger and fries.
Mike, who has been married to Zara the niece of King Charles since 2011, has been enthralling his jungle pals and viewers with his stories about life back home in the UK. In one episode of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! he had his new friends in awe over a tale about a mishap at a wedding in front of his mother-in-law Princess Anne.
Mike was discussing suits when he admitted that he tends to rip a lot of them with his over-the-top dance moves at parties. “I love a suit. My problem with suits is I over exaggerate dancing at weddings… I rip a lot of suits, trousers and stuff," he said.
Mike explained: “The old sl*t drop gets me every time. I went to a wedding, ripped a suit, they were like, 'oh my god, what are you going to do?' I was like, 'don’t worry I’ve got a spare.’ They were like, ‘Who brings a spare suit?’ Someone who rips a lot of trousers brings a spare suit."
Mike continued: “Zara had like a 30th birthday, it was a disco 70s themed one, I was dancing on the dance floor, I had like flares on, full outfit but it was quite tight, nothing ever fits - rugby player’s bum and legs - so I was dancing with my mother-in-law and I did a sl*t drop in front of my mother-in-law.”
Mike continued: “Ripped my trousers, straight in front of her. It happened to be that my boxers that I had on at that time said 'nibble my nuts'.”
Mike, who was a member of the English rugby union squad which won the 2003 World Cup, previously opened up about his first meeting and first date with Zara. He said they discovered they 'both quite like getting smashed' during their 'boozy' first date.
Mike met Zara, who is 20th in the line of succession to the British throne, during England's World Cup-winning campaign in Australia in 2003. Mike recalled: “I was at the World Cup, she was out watching. I got dropped from the semi-final. I was p****d off and so I went for a beer with another guy who got dropped and a guy who was over [in Sydney]. They’d met her before and they introduced us and then got chatting.”
Speaking about their first date, Mike added: “First actual date, just went out for lunch locally. And ended up being quite a boozy one. Then we figured out that we both quite like getting smashed. It was a good start.” Mike and Zara have three children, Mia, eight, Lena, four, and Lucas, one.
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