I'm A Celebrity axe fourth contestant as one more heads home from the jungle

06 December 2023 , 22:08

1083     0

I'm A Celebrity axe fourth contestant as one more heads home from the jungle

Nick Pickard has become the fourth celebrity to be booted off I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.

The star became the fourth contestant to head home from the Australian jungle after they were axed this evening in a public vote. It follows three exits so far - Nella Rose, Fred Sirieix and Frankie Dettori - as well as another two due to medical reasons, when both Jamie Lynn Spears and Grace Dent quit the show and headed back home.

The Hollyoaks star, 48, has been playing Tony Hutchinson since 1995 on the show, but the soap fans failed to get behind him and he got the lowest number of votes and had to leave. Hearing the news after 19 days in camp, he said: "I love you guys".

Nick is a huge fan of I'm A Celebrity and was delighted to get the chance to go into camp. But he was picked for very few trials or challenges and so struggled for air time when up against other bigger characters. He did manage to take part in the Critical Mixer trial on his last day with Marvin Humes and Tony Bellew.

Ant and Dec quizzed Nick about his exit (ITV)

Speaking to Ant and Dec, Nick Pickard said he was happy to be out of camp. With a grin, he said: "It's great, I am not going to lie. It has been amazing but after the second week it is really tough."

TOWIE's Chloe Brockett makes cheeky dig at Saffron Lempriere during filming

He has played Tony for 28 years in Hollyoaks but insisted he did not go into camp to show people the real him as he explained: "For me it was my family, my niece, my nephew, my daughter, my girlfriend,  everyone wanted me to do it for years and I've never been asked before. So, to be honest, it was an honour to be asked. That was the reason I did it, I know who I am."

Asked whether he struggled with a lack of food, he said: "There was only one day when we had no stars. So there was always something to work with and the mealtime is when everyone comes together and you sit down, you salivate and so you get over it."

And on who he was rooting to win, he backed Sam Thompson. He told hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly: "I think I want Sam to win because he deserves it and he really wants to win. He is the lifeblood of the camp."

Nick left the jungle this evening

Nick is actually the sixth campmate to leave the show, following Fred Sirieix, Nella Rose and Frankie Dettori who were evicted. They both followed food critic Grace Dent and actor Jamie Lynn Spears who both quit the show last week, leaving on "medical grounds". Nick even read out a lanyard confirming to the camp that Grace had left.

In his exit interview, Fred spoke of how he was actually quite friendly with Josie Gibson - despite the pair coming to blows over the cooking on regular occasions, and now he is out of the jungle, he plans to help her find a man.

"We talked a lot about Josie’s love life and I am on the search for a man for her. There are two ways to go, we can go for First Dates because we are going to be filming again but I think I need to fast forward this and I need to think about my friends because she does not want to meet a celebrity, understandably. There is more chance I am thinking about friends and who could match her," he said.

Referring to someone on the ITV production team, he added: "There was this very strong New Zealand guy and she said, ‘Oh you New Zealand guys are big and strong,’ and I was thinking, she likes a man to be a man, not a skinny one like me, she likes a strong one. She is very easygoing, her son is her priority, she is very big with her work I know exactly the type of man she likes but I need to think who I am going to introduce her to. She is busy and she does not have time to waste because it is either Reggie(her son) or it is work but also, I had a long conversation with her, as a mum it was very difficult for her."

Today, Nella Rose also broke her silence about the camp feuds. In her exit interview, she told This Morning: "I haven't been able to watch anything back yet but I know everything that has gone on. I know everything that has happened and, honestly, It was a big fat misunderstanding. We've gone over it, me and Fred are cool, everything is blessed. I don't know why everyone is still crying about it, but... I understand, it's TV, it's life! In the jungle, everything is intensified. Obviously, that subject, is very triggering for me because it's kind of like a fresh wound but obviously, being inside the jungle, all events are intensified. It is what it is."

*Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on , , , , and .

Mark Jefferies