Josie Gibson may not have won I’m A Celebrity 2023, but as the last woman standing, she was still our Queen of the Jungle. And, not only did she battle snakes and cockroaches in Oz, she was also felled by tonsillitis once she left, and ended up in hospital on a drip.
Thankfully, the super-friendly, super-fun Bristol native was all better by the time we caught up with her after she was back home with her gorgeous five-year-old son Reggie and a distinct lack of spiders.
“I appreciate everything so much more since being back,” she laughs.
“I love our normal-sized insects. Even the ants in Australia were massive. They were unbelievable.”
The 38 year old shot to fame when she won Big Brother back in 2010, earning a massive 77.5 per cent of the public vote. She went on to star in two more reality shows, launched her very own perfume, became a magazine columnist, and turned her hand to TV presenting. Which, as it goes, worked out pretty well for her. She is now both a roving reporter and regular host on This Morning, and also gets to go on adventures with her BFF Alison Hammond.
She gave us the lowdown on all her jungle adventures, her fallout with Fred Siriex, and her plans for this year…
How was your time in the jungle?
I’ll be honest, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I found it very, very difficult, but it was an experience and an adventure. In my head, I thought it was a lot cushier than it was, but maybe that’s what I told myself, so I would actually do it.
What were the hardest bits?
Leaving my son for that amount of time. I always knew it was going to be difficult, but it was about a month with no contact. I was pining for him and I was so sad at some points. I needed him. I thought I would be a lot stronger, but it was like being a little bit heartbroken. I also found it hard not being able to get ready – do my hair, and look and feel nice. That was a shock to the system, because I like to make the best of myself. There are no mirrors in the jungle, but I discovered that if you bent the soap tin around the other way, you could sort of see yourself.
And the best bits?
Definitely my campmates –they were brilliant. We all say we couldn’t have got through it without each other. Danielle [Harold], Sam [Thompson], Tony [Bellew] and Nick [Pickard] were amazing. All the blokes in the camp were very chivalrous and gentlemanly.
You were the last woman to leave the camp…
I was, but it didn’t feel like it, because Sam and Tony are definitely in touch with their feminine sides. I’m glad Tony is a role model for so many young men. He talks about his wife Rachel with such high regard, and his children are amazing. I thought he was going to be this hard man, but he’s the opposite. He is so soft and genuine – he’s like a teddy bear. He’s Teddy T. Sam is entertaining morning, noon and night. If I had five per cent of his energy, I’d be happy. He’s like an adorable puppy. My little boy is obsessed with him. He wanted to take him home.
We can imagine Sam being great with kids…
He is. We were going to London, and I was telling Reggie about Buckingham Palace, and he said, “I want to see the real King, Mummy. I want to see the King of the Jungle.” My godson was obsessed with Sam, too, and so were Tony’s kids.
Are you any less scared of spiders now?
If I saw a house spider, I don’t think I’d be as scared as I once was. When you’ve seen the spiders in the jungle…
I’m not joking, half of them have testicles, and the bodies on them are something else. I know people wonder why
I signed up to the jungle when I’ve got a spider phobia. I thought I could tackle it, but they were something else. I was in a state of fear the whole time and it’s so draining.
What did you make of all the fuss about your dinner-off with Fred Sirieix?
I thought the reaction was over the top. It was a bit of banter between me and Fred, and we knew each other well enough to be able to take the mickey. He’s very passionate and intense, but that’s who he is. When I took over the cooking, I don’t think Fred trusted me to make really good meals, but he was taken aback when he realised I could actually cook. Fred and I had some lovely deep and meaningful conversations and also a funny, jokey showdown about the meals, but they weren’t shown because producers have to squeeze 24 hours into each show. It’s Mission: Impossible trying to piece it all together.
Was it weird being in there with Britney Spears’ sister, Jamie Lynn?
Not really, because she’s just a normal human being. I found her fascinating. We bonded over being mums to five year olds. When she left the jungle, she bought Reg a load of presents, including an Elf On The Shelf. She made sure she dropped everything off at production for him. How cute is that? Jamie’s a really nice, sweet girl, and she was a mother missing her babies, at the end of the day.
Did you think Sam was the rightful winner?
As soon as I met him, I thought, “You’re gonna win this.” He has that energy and he was so thankful for the whole experience. He lifted everyone up in the camp and made sure nobody ever got bored. You could always go to him and get a bit of his magic energy. He absolutely deserved to win. He was a brilliant campmate.
Is the food in camp as bad as we think it is?
I’m not joking, every time we got food, they left a bit of fur on it, so you didn’t forget what it was. Some nights I would gasp. It was very hard when we had alpaca, because I met some on This Morning and they’re lovely. People do eat them in Australia, though, and kangaroo tails. The blackbirds were quite nice, because they tasted like chicken, but Fred wanted to make the most out of them, so he made a stock with their heads. Beaks, eyes – you name it. You can’t waste anything, because everyone is so starving.
What was the first meal you had after you left?
I had a chocolate pizza with Reg, but it was a bit rich and I felt quite sick afterwards. I was so excited to be reunited
with him, but he wasn’t as excited as I was. He said to me, “Well, I’ve been watching you every night.” He knew what I was doing, whereas I didn’t know what he was doing, so it was more of a moment for me than it was for him.
Will you be starting any healthy habits in January?
I’ve got this lovely hairstylist called Maurice Flynn, and everyone thinks we’re having it off, because we went out for dinner, but we’re not. He goes out running with me, and before I went into the jungle, he got me doing 5K. We’ve also been in the gym. I’m looking forward to working out more with him.
You’re currently single – would you like to meet someone this year?
I am single, but the thing is, it’s really hard, because I’ve got Reg and he’s only five. I’ve got to be so careful who I let in my life, because I have been stung in the past, so I’m very careful who I have around. I cannot get hurt again, it’s too painful. I’ve got to be able to really know somebody and trust them, and that’s a long process. That magic energy doesn’t come along very often, either. Those special connections don’t happen overnight. It happens to me about once every seven years or so. I couldn’t be with somebody out of loneliness, I’ve got to really be into them.
Read even more from our interview with Josie in this week's heat magazine - in all good shops now.
Catch Josie on This Morning, weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX