I’m A Celeb star Oti Mabuse went on This Morning today with Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond to discuss her time in the jungle, and shared the concerns she had regarding campmate Melvin Odoom.
At one point during their stint in the jungle, Melvin helped Oti back onto her feet. She’d been experiencing an emotional slump.
“You don’t have your normal support you know,” she said at the time.
Fans celebrated Melvin’s support, saying he was like a “big brother being protective of his little sister”.
Oti Mabuse ‘loved’ her time on I’m A Celeb
Oti shared her thoughts on the time she spent in the I’m A Celebrity jungle with ITV’s This Morning hosts Dermot and Alison today (December 13).
It was her first live television interview since she made it back from Australia. She got as far as the semi-finals of I’m A Celebrity this year – no mean feat.
“I just loved it,” she said. “We were in a space where we were able to just talk about things that we were going through, or our childhood…
“I think we all first learned that the more we talk about things. The more we get over them and they don’t hold us back any more. They don’t hold power over us any more.
“It wasn’t something I went in [to the jungle] thinking it would happen,” she explained.
Concerns for Melvin
The ex Strictly pro also shared the compassion she felt in particular for campmate Melvin. They were friends before going Down Under together.
It takes a lot to get him down.
“When your friend doesn’t look like themselves any more and they have tears in their eyes, you can either ignore them or just be like: ‘Let’s just go away.’ And we have that conversation, or: ‘If you need me to stay here, that’s what I’ll do.’
“I was extra protective over Melvin, because I know him, and I know how sensitive he is. He’s really strong but when you get him down – it takes a lot to get him down. I just wanted to be there for him every step of the way, because he was there for me.”
When Oti was down, Melvin was there for her
In a late November episode of I’m A Celeb, Oti experienced an emotional slump.
“You know they say you have a dip,” she explained to her campmates. “I don’t think I’ve had one until now.
“You don’t have your normal support you know,” she explained. “You don’t have your spiritual support, you don’t have your emotional support, you don’t have your physical…
“It’s the mental and physical support for me which for me I was just like, ‘Wow, OK, none of my family’s around.'”
Viewers were quick to point out Melvin Odoom being there to support Oti in her hour of need.
“Melvin’s concerned look when he saw that Oti was upset was like seeing a big brother being protective of his little sister,” one wrote on X.
Another wrote that Melvin was “always looking out for Oti”.
Read more: Why Wayne Rooney still hasn’t reunited with wife Coleen following jungle stint
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