TV

“They’re such interesting people!” Carson Kressley adores his I’m a Celeb castmates

We're hanging out our bedazzled blazers in mourning.
Carson Kressley

After the traumatising ordeal of losing resident babe Kris Smith from the South African jungle, the nation has suffered yet another blow with Carson Kressley getting the boot.

The 47-year-old may no longer be on the show, but nothing can ever remove him from our hearts.

The TV star braved the crazy elements, jumped out of the sky and chowed down on a scorpion, all in the name of raising money for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute.

The camp were clearly devastated when Julia and Chris announced it was time for the Queer Eye For The Straight Guy star to leave.

He may have been the show’s second intruder, but Carson was very much a part of the I’m a Celeb family.

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“Take my clean underwear Steve (Price),” he joked as he left.

“You’ll all have a place to stay in New York. This is so weird. Goodbye everybody, enjoy the beans.”

Our favourite blonde babe leaves behind just seven celebs with Lisa Curry, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Nazeem Hussain, Casey Donovan, Dane Swan and Steve Price left.

Before he returns to his beloved concrete jungle in New York City, we chatted to the charismatic man.

Pop the champagne for our fashionista!

We can safely say on behalf of the nation, everyone is devastated that you’re out of the jungle… How are you feeling?

I’m feeling great, mate! I’m eating bacon as we speak.

It was really fun, an experience of a life time that I’ll never forget. I got to make amazing friends and do things I never thought possible.

And I lost four kilos. All while raising money for charity… How great is that?

No, how great are you!?

Please tell us you got a chance to wear that stunning glitter blazer?!

NO! I didn’t…

I thought I would and then I realised that everything closes at 7:30 PM. The only place to go was the KFC drive-through and I didn’t think that was appropriate for the blazer.

What’s going to be the first thing you do when you get home?

I’m going to take a bath in my big soaking tub in New York. I’ve been thinking about that for the past 16 days. I take a bath everyday, and all I want to do is luxuriate, pop a bottle of champagne and maybe find someone to join me.

Who did you miss the most from the outside?

You have a lot of free time and you end up just thinking about things. I missed my family a lot, my mum, dad and sister and my pets.

Sass was rife with Carson’s arrival.

Going into the jungle, you wouldn’t have been very familiar with your fellow camp mates… What was it like meeting some of Australia’s local talent?

I thought the cast was the highlight of my trip. I was really lucky that I didn’t have any preconceived notions about anyone.

I didn’t really know about any of the camp drama. It was lovely just to come in and get to know everybody and hear their stories.

I really enjoyed getting to know everyone. All of their stories are just so incredible. I mean Lisa [Curry] was in three Olympics.

I was always a fan of Nat before the show and now I’m a bigger fan. Even Tzopirah was fascinating. Steve Price’s career is amazing, starting out as copy boy to what he is now. They’re all such interesting people.

With his jungle friends.

You really were Miss Congeniality; everyone adored you, especially Kris Smith. Who was you camp bestie?

Right from the start, Nat and I got along so well.

We both know some of the same people in Melbourne. I’m a fan of her music and we have a similar sensibility about things.

She loves design. We had a lot to talk about. When you have something in common with someone in the jungle you spend a lot of time with them because you have something to do.

Last week we chatted to Keira and she just loved you… Many viewers think she’s a diva, do you think she’s just misunderstood?

Keira is definitely an acquired taste! There’s a lot to Keira.

Sometimes she comes across as Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka, “Daddy, I want and Oompa Loompa and I want and Oompa Loompa NOW!” [Laughs]

Hmmm…

But then if you take some time to get to know her, there’s depth.

We were chatting and I asked her what her charity was and she told me it was The Smith Family. I didn’t know what that was so she explained that they help underprivileged families. If there’s a holiday and they have no presents for their kids or if they need books for school, then the charity helps them out.

She had told me how they helped her family when she was a little girl and that made me think, “Oh wow! You’ve not always been a princess. You’ve had moments where life has been hard.” I give her a pass. There’s a lot more than people give her credit for.

But check back with me in 15 minutes, I might hate her again!

A cuddle for Keira…

She gets a pass!

Is there anyone you’re happy to leave in the jungle?

The only people I do not want to see again are the rangers who served the icky food.

I would see the same guy. He had funny hair and a leather hat and I would think to myself: “Oh no! I think I can smell rotting cow intestines in the air”

When chowing down on a scorpion, Carson admitted he’s had worse things in his mouth.

WHAT. A. BOSS

Who do you think should win?

I think football players and athletes win all the time because they’re so good at keeping their eyes on the prize. They’re so intense and focused but I think it’s time there is a queen of the jungle and if it can’t be me it might as well be one of the girls like Nat, Casey or Lisa.

Our real queen!

Will there be a big post-show reunion?

I think we all want to fly back and be with our families. But everyone loves New York and I was like “Guys you’re all welcome to come to NYC” and they all said they were coming.

They better not all come at once, I have a very small apartment. I think Lisa is coming in August and Nat’s coming in July… I’m not sure when Kris Smith is coming? I better find out. I think he’s still mad at me for beating him at basketball.

He may want Casey to win… But Carson will always be rooting for Kris Smith.

What’s next for you? We know you’re involved as producer for the Queer Eye reboot, would you consider be on the show?

I’ll do whatever they want. It’s still very premature at the moment, it will be fun to be like Charlie in Charlie’s Angels.

I could tell them what to do and stay behind the scenes and eat bacon.

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