Restaurant critic Grace Dent has spoken out for the first time since she left the I’m A Celebrity jungle on medical grounds.
The columnist left the Australian jungle earlier this week, and said she “didn’t go out as I planned, or wanted”. Just two days after her departure it was announced that Britney Spears‘ sister Jamie Lynn was also leaving the show on medical grounds.
In her first statement shared on social media since leaving, Dent said: “Thank you for the outpouring of love I’ve received since I was removed on Monday. I am overwhelmingly sad right now, but determined to keep alive in my heart the huge personal breakthroughs I made over the weeks.”
Her post included photos from her time in the I’m A Celebrity jungle, topped with an image of the star sitting in front of a hearty breakfast following days without proper food.
Dent said that spending 15 days “without a phone or any contact with loved ones, living much of the time outdoors in a rain forest in very wet weather” had given her a “short, sharp glimpse into the pain some folk worldwide endure”.
Taking part in the show taught her things about herself and made her realise she was physically stronger than she previously thought, she said.
“I had no idea it was possible to be shown an American football helmet and be informed I was shortly to be locked in at the neck and filled to the eyebrows with cockroaches, and for me to think ‘OK this is doable, the trick is to breathe’,” she said.
“For as long as I live, I shall never forget the cockroach that entered my ear canal and the sound of its little feet creeping closer down to my brain. It took us two goes to lure him out.”
Dent went on to decribe becoming “blasé about sleeping with hungry rats, noisy toads, moths and Huntsman spiders” and said the show had taught her “that when you have to sleep close to the enemy the trick is to stay calm, have empathy and that screaming achieves nothing but wasted calories”.
She finished her post by saying: “I hope I gave you all a smile. I didn’t go out as I planned or I wanted, but I did what I could, and I did it in a siren red gel manicure without chipping a nail. I didn’t cry when I took off my bra to find a family of mealworms living in the right cup. At some level, this *must* be an achievement.
“My plan is to recover… and when the adrenaline finally ebbs away, to make some serious plans for dinner. Three courses, extra potatoes, definitely pudding. I think I deserve it.”
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