One year on from his jungle antics, we caught up with 2014 runner-up Jake Quickenden to find out what it's really like being a camper on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.

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Is it as tough as it looks Down Under? Are they as isolated as they seem? Can they really not get a cheeky football result out of Ant and Dec? Jake reveals all the things that actually made the I'm A Celeb challenge so tough – and it has nothing to do with Bushtucker Trials...

Tic Tacs

“I saw one of the cameramen eating a Tic Tac once and I said, ‘Please, just one, my mouth is so dry,’ and he was like, ‘No, I can’t give you it.’ A lot of people say they sneak you food, but they don’t. It’s literally so hard. You get people going in there and leaving as they’re so hungry, they honestly don’t give you anything.”


The football scores

“This is what killed me. I really wanted to know football scores. So when you walk into trials and people are with you who set them up, and you obviously see Ant and Dec, a few times I was like, ‘What was the United score?’ They were like, ‘We can’t tell you!’”


A fan

Jake opted to take a fan that sprays water as his ‘luxury item’ but admitted it didn’t last long. “I got it taken off me within about two minutes. Everything I wanted to take in had already been taken, as I went in late. Like a rubber ring – Foggy had that. They wouldn’t let me take my mobile, that was shocking,” he added with a chuckle.

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Bushtucker Trials

“I actually got annoyed when I didn’t get a trial. They get you out of the camp and doing something different. The whole camp looks at you to win the food. You’ve got a lot of responsibility. I never worried about getting the trials, I wanted the trials.”


Going to the toilet

Jake explained that it was nice to go into the Bush Telegraph every now and again to let off a bit of steam, but that they also keep an annoyingly close eye on you. “Like when I had a wee in camp and they said someone’s been weeing in camp and I was like, ‘Oh s*** I’m going to get busted here'. They stitch you up – which is funny.”


Sleep

Jake said he wasn’t all that bothered about not getting much sleep, admitting he doesn’t kip all that much anyway. But he revealed it was always the nights before Ant and Dec came in to send someone home that would keep him awake.

“When it comes round to the votes, that’s quite worrying. You’re all sat around and someone’s going to go most days. You kind of worry about that. You don’t sleep very well because you don’t want to go home. I definitely didn’t want to go home.”


The crown…

Jake was certainly popular in the camp and it did look like he might pip Carl Fogarty to the post come the final.

But Jake laughed: “The best man won. He did a lot around the camp. He deserved to win.

"If I could have chosen someone it would have been Carl, for the fact that he was always up doing stuff. He was sorting the fire out, collecting wood. He’s just a bloke. He’s a man’s man. So I’m glad he won. Plus he’s now my girlfriend’s dad, so I have to say that…” he grinned.

The two champs will probably watch a few episodes together, Jake said, but they’ll be disappointed their reign has come to an end.

“I’ve been at their house a few times when the advert has come on and we both just look at each other. I don’t think we can believe it’s been a year.

"I don’t want to know who wins… then it’s like we’re finished. That was our year – and now it’s a new year!”

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I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! returns Sunday 15h November at 9pm on ITV

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