'I'm a Celebrity' Willie Carson interview: 'Antony Cotton was a kn*b'

Retired jockey Willie Carson was pipped to the post in the latest series of I'm a Celebrity. He didn't make it to the final furlong in the competition, but the jungle prince has a lot of magical memories from appearing on the show.

Digital Spy sat down with him in Australia to find out more…

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How are you feeling, Willie?
"I'm slightly bemused by the whole experience. I kept saying to myself, 'What the hell am I doing here?' I thought I was on a reality television programme – but I didn't realise it was going to be as tough as it was. They put a lot of curveballs in there to upset things."

What did you find hard to deal with in the jungle?
"I only had one problem: the traitors. I couldn't differ reality from real life. It was a game in there, but I didn't pick up that fact. I didn't get the side of the story that everyone else got."

Do you regret how you reacted to the traitors in the jungle?
"In a way, I regret that. However, the programme didn't show what a bad place Crissy was in after the dungeon – and that made me angry. You didn't see it on the show, but she was in a very bad spot. I talked her into going into the dungeon, so I felt to blame. She was in a very bad place, and I had to stay up all night with her."

When Lorraine Chase came out of the jungle, she said you were in a bad place…
"I've had a bad back throughout the show. I've been in agony. I've always had a bad back, but I strained it doing the koala bear challenge. I was too short to get my foot on the pole and I ended up straining my back. Then I carried a chest down the creek. It was very heavy. Well, that was it. My back was in a heavy spasm."

Did Fatima give you a massage to help the pain?
"Fatima gave me a few massages, but they were very sore. She actually popped my rib at one point. It popped like a gun. She gave me a bear hug and picked me up. My rib went bang! It still hurts. She was trying to crack my back, but she ended up cracking my rib."

Jessica-Jane said she really got on well with you in the jungle…
"Oh yes. I got on really well with Jessica. Mind you, I thought I got on with everybody in the jungle. I've come out and discovered I'm not friends with everyone. I didn't realise Antony was talking about people like that. I didn't realise he was bit of a kn*b. He's been talking about people. We didn't know that in there. He's been saying stuff behind our backs. I'm very surprised by it. I thought we were all lovey dovey in the camp."

Will you confront him about that?
"Will I confront him? I've got to apologise to Antony first. I've got to say sorry about the whole traitor thing."

Didn't you resolve that in the jungle?
"I didn't apologise in the jungle. I was too angry – but I'll apologise to Antony and I'll apologise to Dougie soon. I feel guilty about it now, but I didn't at the time."

Are you happy with the way you were portrayed on the show?
"I haven't got a clue how I was portrayed on the show. I haven't seen it. My wife is very diplomatic, but I don't know if she's told me everything that they've shown."

Did you enjoy the overnight challenge with the bugs?
"Listen, no animal was hurt during the filming of that segment. I was thinking they'd given me the easiest option, but it was the hardest. You can control the rats. You can control the snakes. You can't control the crickets or the cockroaches. I covered myself up and I tried to go to sleep. I tucked myself in, but the blankets had holes in them so the animals were getting through the holes. I was squashing them with my b*lls!"

Did you lose much weight in the jungle?
"I only lost two and a half kilos. At one stage, I was putting weight on in the jungle. They didn't believe me, but I did."

Are the others struggling with the lack of food in there?
"Doug and Mark were so hungry, they were ready to eat their beds when I left the jungle. They are struggling with the lack of food. I'm lucky because I don't eat a lot. That was no problem to me. My friend said to me, 'Don't worry, Willie. It's only a studio'. How wrong was he?"

Were you shocked when you discovered it wasn't a studio?
"No, I was quite happy. I was a bit worried about the wildlife to begin with. But then I was fine with it. I could stay in there for years, as long as I had food."

How did Dougie and Mark handle the lack of food?
"They really struggled, so they ended up putting extra beans on for themselves."

Are they taking extra food on the sly?
"No, they told the others that they are putting on extra food. They did do one sly thing, though. They nicked a coconut. They haven't admitted it, but I let it slip that I knew when I was angry because they thought I didn't know. I did know. They were so hungry when I was in the Sin Bin that they pinched a coconut. They said it had gone off. What a load of codswallop! A hard coconut? A sealed, rock solid product gone off? That's the story they gave."

Fatima and Antony aren't getting along very well. Did you know about that when you were in the camp?
"I didn't realise that when I was in the jungle. I didn't realise that Antony was saying all this stuff behind our backs."

Did you get on with Antony?
"He's theatrical. He's highly strung. He's very intelligent. He ran rings around us all when it came to intelligence. He'd seen this, been there, done that. He's a person who's very popular in England with Coronation Street. With all those Corrie fans, I thought he would go to the end."

What's next for you? Do you want to change careers and get more TV work?
"Change career? I'm retired. No thank you. In the last two years, I have been in the best place of my life and I hope to get back to it straight away. I don't know why I accepted the offer to do this show."

Did you have a good time in the hot tub with Peter Andre?
"I think Peter Andre had a better time than anybody. I think he enjoyed himself. We were having a good time in the tub. I didn't have a headache in the morning, though. That was good. I was alright. There was no hangover for me."