I'm A Celeb star Vincent Simone opens up on major change after ITV appearance

Vincent Simone, best known for serving as a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing from 2006 to 2012, was a campmate in the Australian jungle in 2013, and was the third celeb to be voted out

Former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star Vincent Simone confessed he “felt like a man” after his stint in the Australian jungle.

The 45-year-old, best known for being a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing from 2006 to 2012, appeared on the ITV reality show back in 2013, and was the third celeb to be voted out. Westlife’s Kian Egan was eventually crowned King of the Jungle, with designer David Emanuel finishing in second place, and Lucy Pargeter in third, and despite finishing in 10th place, Vincent admitted he learnt a lot from his time in the jungle.

The Italian dancer, who is dad to two children, said the show has had a “huge impact” on his life, and he feels “more courageous” after facing his fears in the jungle. “I feel more like a man,” Vincent told the Daily Star, as he revealed he can now tackle spiders in his house when his kids shout for help. “ feel like I've improved a lot. I don't freak out anymore, I'll just stay calm because I always think ‘Well, if I was in the jungle, this would have been fine,’” he explained.

He admitted he began to panic ahead of his stint in the jungle, and remembers “looking at a little spider” in his house, and thinking: “How am I going to get over this?” Vincent said being in the camp, surrounded by insects, spiders, snakes and other animals, toughened him up, and soon he began to forget about the creepy crawlies lurking around. “You just get on with it,” he stated, as he recalled putting a spider in his mouth with “12 million people watching you”. Vincent said he was “safeguarded by professionals”, so felt able to continue with the scary challenges because it was “a performance”.

He discussed one grisly trial which saw him and Annabel Giles being faced with cockroaches. “She was screaming and we all freaked out because we saw one cockroach. But then when they start dropping hundreds of them, it's okay,” he quipped. “When you see one, you focus on the cockroach. When you get loads of them, it's whatever, you just get on with your challenge.”

He did have a few words of advice for this year’s campmates, including Coleen Rooney, Danny Jones, Alan Halsall and his fellow pro dancer, Oti Mabuse. Vincent told them to try and stay in shape while in the jungle, and to be as “physically active” as possible because it’s too easy to “lay around too much”. He added: “So just be active. They kept saying that to me as well, as a suggestion. Just keep moving and do some exercises, because you lose weight, you lose fat, and it's important you keep your muscles up to scratch.”

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