Davina Rankin has been working towards something of a redeption arc ever since she first appeared on Married At First Sight and found herself at the heart of a cheating scandal.
Now, having just been ejected from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! it looks like she’s managed to convince not only her co-stars but the rest of Australia that she’s not the villain the show made her out to be.
Since the day she entered the jungle, Davina was ready to show her authentic self but she revealed in an exclusive chat with New Idea that she was “really nervous” going into the show.
“I was prepared for the worst and especially having to talk about MAFS and knowing that that episode was airing,” Davina said.
Davina Rankin was the first celebrity ejected from the jungle.
(Image: Network Ten)“I was really nervous that it was going to open up a can of worms and I didn’t want to look or sound like a victim; I didn’t want to come across a certain way.
“I was just so worried about how it was going to be taken. But everyone has been so beautiful and supportive and it’s really nice.
“I feel like I can kind of close that chapter now and just move on as ‘Davina for Davina’ and not ‘Davina from MAFS‘.”
Along with fans of the show championing Davina, the first evictee has also received many well wishes from her former MAFS co-stars.
“A lot of the girls, and Dean, Telv… a lot of them have said congratulations,” Davina revealed.
Her former on-screen husband Ryan Gallagher also recently made a quip which referenced Davina’s TV infidelity, saying “it’s a shame (the show) wasn’t filmed in South Africa… where Cheetahs are native.”
“He’s a comedian. He’s so funny.” Davina said, with perhaps a hint of sarcasm, in reference to the comment.
While her on-screen marriage didn’t end well, leaving Davina viciously trolled to the point where she remained house-bound for three months, the I’m A Celeb star says she’s over the moon with her portrayal this time around.
“It was very fun watching it myself for once. I’m not used to being able to handle watching myself on TV, but it was so fun!”
WATCH: Ryan Gallagher spills on ‘ex wife’ Davina Rankin’s affair. Post continues after video…
Watching along with her has been her daughter, Mila, and fiancé, Jaxon, whom Davina was overjoyed to reunite with following her eviction.
“I was so upset about missing them that day, especially; so it was very bittersweet, but I was so excited to come home.”
She went on to say that despite being away from her daughter for a short period of time, she felt she had missed so much.
“It’s funny when the kids are at that age they grow really quickly, so when I came and saw my daughter it was as if I hadn’t seen her for months; she just changed so much.”
Last year, Davina also announced she’s headed for the aisle. She told New Idea that the ceremony is planned for a few months’ time.
Davina was thrilled to get home to her little girl.
(Image: Instagram)“This one will be a real wedding,” she joked. “This one we’ll actually be married.”
Far from the pomp and circumstance of MAFS, according to Davina, this occasion will be strictly low-key.
“We’re both very chilled out people,” Davina said of her fiancé Jaxon.
“It’s all sorted. It’s all planned. Everything’s booked. But it is a very chilled out, relaxed wedding, nothing too crazy, but it is going to be extremely beautiful.”
The soon-to-be newlyweds have also planned a local honeymoon before hopefully jetting off overseas in the next year as a family.
In the jungle, Davina and her fellow celebs became a family of their own, with the MAFS alum describing the atmosphere as “a big love fest”, which made hearing the harrowing stories of her fellow celebs’ all the more confronting.
“They’ve all had their fair share of heartache and battles and struggles, and it really opened my eyes because in my little world it was like I was the only one who had gone through hard things,” Davina said.
“You hear about these people, Tottie and her issue that happened, (referring to the singer’s drug scandal), Dylan losing his brother, Joey losing his mum…
“It was really hard to hear but it also makes you love them more because you’re like ‘wow, you really are human, you’re all just humans just trying to their best’.”
Throughout her jungle stint, Davina was competing for the Mater – Little Miracles charity, which helps provide support for premature babies. It’s a cause that’s very close to her heart.
Davina is excited to be wed to her fiancé Jaxon soon!
(Image: Instagram)“Our family has been supporting them throughout my whole life, really.
“My dad has been buying tickets in their raffles every month for I don’t even know how many years,” Davina said, adding that her mum would also volunteer as a “cuddler”.
“When there’s a premature baby people come in and they get to be cuddled and have that skin-on-skin feeling. So when their parents aren’t around there’s people there that give that extra support and love.
“They go above and beyond. It’s a really special cause and they do deserve as many eyes as they can get.”
This article originally appeared on our sister site, New Idea.
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