Jack Maynard will be the first YouTuber to appear on the ITV reality show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
Jack said that he hopes to “do the internet proud” as a campmate on the jungle-based show, which will begin airing its seventeenth series on 19 November.
“We are the most famous people you’ve never heard of,” he said of YouTubers, before entering the camp. “One of the main reasons I am definitely doing it is to be the first YouTuber to go on a show that is so massive in this country. That is quite amazing.”
He added: “There are going to be people going, ‘Who is this kid?’, but on YouTube I am very much myself and I will bring that personality to the camp. I do feel lucky to be in this position, and of course I think everyone will hit the wall at some point, but you do have to remember what an amazing show you are on.”
It’s likely that Jack will be one of the youngest contestants on the show. “I am going to try and lift everyone’s spirits,” he said. “I am going to keep everyone happy together. My goal is to try and do the best I can.”
An avid fan of I’m a Celebrity, Jack has rewatched old episodes to prepare himself for what lies ahead. He has also cut down on his food intake in the weeks leading up to the jungle: “I have not been eating as much,” he revealed. “I felt I had to try to be as healthy as I could in the lead-up to it to get my body used to not eating much.”
He admitted to being “scared of everything,” saying: “I am going to find out what phobias I have whilst doing this show and what I am most scared of.”
During his stint on I’m A Celebrity, Jack will be celebrating his birthday. “Hopefully they will be nice to me for a day or at least an hour!” he joked. “What a cool way to celebrate your birthday – by saying you are in the Australian jungle!”
Jack also revealed that while he’s in the jungle he’ll be leaving his viewers with plenty of videos to tide them over. “I am going to pre-record some films before I go into camp,” he shared. “Someone else is going to operate my Twitter account for me. That’s my job and I can’t go silent for that long.”
Asked whether he’s hoping to find romance on the show, he said: “Where I am in my life right now and all the work I am doing, getting into a relationship would be a poor decision. I am focused on me and growing myself as much as possible. A jungle fling? What happens in the jungle stays in the jungle, apart from all the people watching it. But to be in a place for such a long time with a group of people… Anything can happen!”
Series 17 of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! begins on ITV at 9pm on Sunday 19 November.
Words by Bob Leak and Poppy Dillon.
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