Former rugby player Mike Tindall has spoken about his emotional goodbye with his family before appearing on I'm A Celebrity and has shared his wife's warning ahead of his stint in the jungle
Mike, 44, is married to Zara Tindall - the late Queen 's granddaughter. This will make him the first royal reality star for decades. He recently revealed that he consulted the Royal Family over his appearance on the popular TV show.
He spoke to the Mirror about what he hopes to get out of his time on I'm A Celebrity. He also discussed how he feels about being separated from his family for some time.
Speaking to the paper, Mike said that it's going to be difficult spending time away from his family, but the saving grace is that he will be going to a country that he knows very well. He added that Zara understands and gets it, which makes things a lot easier.
Mike explained: "It's one of those things with the kids, I've had a couple of phone calls while I've been here. They say they're going to miss you when you leave but when you ring them, they're like hi dad, bye. Then they are off doing whatever they do.
"I expected there to be more tears than there actually are."
On leaving her at home in Gloucestershire with the kids, he said: "Zara gets it and supports it – with both our careers, she goes away competing for weeks at a time and I always went on tours for 3-4 weeks in the summer.
"So our relationship has always been built to deal with that and we're good at compartmentalising and finding ways to deal with it.
"Zara told me to go and be myself, which is all you can be. She said to go enjoy yourself and be yourself. Zara's biggest worry is how loud I am when I eat.
"She will be very happy if someone comments about how loud I breathe when I eat because it's always a point that she brings up. When your nose has been mangled as much as mine has it is just a byproduct."
The couple now have three children, Mia, Lena and Lucas Tindall ranging from eight to one.
They are too young for the 9pm start time of I'm A Celebrity but may watch clips and discussing this Tindall let slip he calls his wife 'Z'.
He added: "With the kids it'll be the case of they'd be in bed before the show goes out on a normal evening, so it'll be down to Z to get them the highlights – only the good stuff probably."
Asked if the family will be coming out to support him or offered any words of advice, he added: "We're not entirely sure yet, we haven't fully made that decision and it's probably how deep into the show we go, and we have some work out here so if it got to the end then hopefully, she'd be able to come out and get some vitamin D in you."
Asked if he will be vulnerable in camp, he said: "I would say probably not. That's probably not something that comes out of me. Hopefully you'll just get me.
"You'll get someone that for their whole life has been around a team environment so I always want to try and fit in and bond with people because with an adventure like this - with all those people that want to win it you can't function without the rest of the other moving parts in there.
"You have to create good bonds and friendships otherwise it’ll be a miserable time and it won't be enjoyable.
"You'll see someone that'll help everyone come together and ultimately, you've got to work together to get your food and I am very keen on winning as much as we can, we will try and work towards that and have some fun along the way.
"I imagine it will be quite hot and humid in there so it's not a great environment to be happy all the time if there are people that are just thinking about themselves that can and everyone else is trying to work together in a team that’ll be the only thing that will probably frustrate.
"I think I am just using it mainly as an experience, a once in a lifetime sort of experience to have a go at."
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