Iain Lee has candidly revealed how he felt “awkward and intimidated” while competing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
The talkRADIO host, 44, has just given his first newspaper interview since finishing third on this year’s show.
Once again he has denied the suggestion he was “bullied” by fellow campmates, but he did admit to feeling “ostracised” from the group.
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“Bullying is a big word, and I was categorically not bullied in the jungle,” he told The Telegraph.
“Having said that, I was ostracised, made to feel horrendously awkward and intimidated.”
There was much criticism of how Iain was treated by campmates Dennis Wise, Rebekah Vardy, Amir Khan and Jamie Lomas.
But Iain has steadfastly refused to classify any of their behaviour as bullying.
He pointed out the jungle is a difficult and pressurised environment, where everybody is hungry, tired and experiencing heightened emotions.
Iain added: “I got paid, I went there voluntarily, there’s no way I would compare my experience to some poor kid getting it in the neck every day or somebody getting shouted at by their boss.”
The father of two appeared on Loose Women last week, where he said he had “no beef” with any of the camp – although he was “disappointed” by Amir.
“When I came out there were all these stories of bullying,” he said.
“I don’t class it as that. It’s a big word to bandy about. I think people being slightly mean to me behind my back, I don’t call that bullying.
“I haven’t watched much of it back, just the trials and a few other bits, but I was really disappointed that people had been saying things behind my back about a game plan, or not trying hard enough.
“But when you’re in there you do go a bit nuts as everyone is hungry, you get so bored, you can have days of doing nothing.”
Iain’s reference to “not trying hard enough” came after he was forced to shout “I’m a celebrity, get me out of here!” while taking on an underwater trial.
He explained to the panel how he’s not a good swimmer, especially under water, and struggled with the task given his sheer size.
Even I’m A Celeb hosts Ant & Dec felt Iain was just too big for the Bushtucker, which involved swimming between small chambers and using air holes to keep the oxygen supply flowing.
After Iain pulled out of the trial, he was given oxygen by Medic Bob, before returning to camp and tearfully saying he just couldn’t finish it.
He also pulled out of another challenge involving walking on a small platform over the jungle, as he’s terrified of heights.
Addressing his current relationship with the quartet, Iain said: “I’ve spoken to Becky since we got out, I’ve had lots of WhatsApps with her and Dennis, I haven’t spoken to Jamie but we got close in there.
“The one that disappointed me the most was Amir. I thought we’d got quite close, then I kind of saw some of the stuff afterwards where he was lying about me.
“I was disappointed by that but I have no beef with anyone.
“I’ll get on with them all.”
Dennis, Amir, Becky and Jamie have all denied any bullying took place.
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Jamie said last week: “It’s absolute nonsense. You see an hour a day, edited, and we were there for 24 hours a day. People are entitled to have an opinion.
“And Iain has come out and rubbished the rumours. It needs to move on from that now.”