Giovanna Fletcher won I’m A Celebrity 2020 and now she is hitting back at claims that she broke the rules on the hit ITV show.
The mummy author and podcaster, 35, won the series triumphantly and was crowned the first ever Queen of the Castle after the show was forced to relocate from Australia to Wales.
But some viewers thought she’d broken the rules.
Upon almost every live scene with Giovanna, she stuck one hand up to her nose and wiggled her fingers.
What did Giovanna say about the ‘rule breaking’ on I’m A Celeb?
She says this was a secret sign to her three young sons – Buzz, six, Buddy, four and Max, two.
The hand sign apparently was one of reassurance to her boys.
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But of course the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! stars are not supposed to attempt contact with their friends or family while on the show.
While taking to Instagram, Giovanna hit back at any criticism and said that she was simply being a good mum.
While addressing her some 1.9 million followers, she shared: “Yes… I know it was clocked! I tried to find a discreet ‘signal’ with the boys so they knew I was thinking of them while I was away… They’re six, four and two, so subtlety (like a little ear tug) wasn’t going to work on them.
“We decided to go big. I can’t tell you how much it meant when @antanddec started doing it back! It’s certainly the little things that get you in there!”
Podcaster praises Vernon Kay and Jordan
Before adding: “Vernon was thoughtful, hilarious and smart while Jordan filled us all with pride as he took on each new trial with more and more courage and bravery.
“The whole experience would’ve been completely different if it weren’t for my superb camp mates (who I love endlessly).”
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Although Giovanna seemed stunned to win the show, she went down a treat with her fellow campmates.
Shane Richie said she hoped she would win as he narrowly missed the final three, while runner-up Vernon Kay even rushed to her defence after Piers Morgan mocked her on GMB.
Piers said to Vernon: “You got beaten by somebody I’ve never heard of. Who is Giovanna Fletcher?”
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Whereas Vernon was quick to respond to Piers with: “She’s got huge follower [numbers] with her podcast and the books that herself and her husband Tom write.
“But do you know what Piers, she’s the […] loveliest person I think I’ve met in a long, long time. She was really, really endearing, really sweet, really compassionate.”
He continued to say she was very kind and patient with the rest of the campmates.
He explained: “She had the greatest skill of just listening to people talk.
“I know that well-being is at the top of everyone’s list recently, and she was really good at just listening to people’s issues, their problems, what they like, what they didn’t like.
Finally adding: “And I think as a fellow campmate of Giovanna’s, I thought she was well and truly deserved being crowned Queen.”
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