Jamie Redknapp had to set his dad straight about what ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ was really like before Harry Redknapp went into the jungle.
According to Jamie, Harry entered the programme with completely the wrong mindset.
Harry’s Naivety in the Jungle
Jamie Redknapp spotted an early report of his father’s involvement in the show and delivered some home truths about how ‘I’m A Celeb’ actually operates. “It was in the paper and I went, ‘Dad, have you seen this story in the The Mirror that says you’re going into the jungle?’
“He went ‘Yeah, I am.’ I said, ‘Do you know what you got to do?’ and he went, “Yeah, it’ll be all right. There’ll be loads of food there. It’ll all be around the back. You can get a bacon sandwich.'”
Jamie added: “I went, ‘No, it doesn’t work like that, Dad’ … but the thing is, I think because of that naivety made it so much easier for him.”
Harry, who had stepped down from football management the previous year, went on to claim victory in the series and returned as one of the ‘All Star’ contestants who came back this year for I’m a Celebrity… South Africa.
Jamie on ‘I’m A Celeb’ and Harry’s Eating Habits
Jamie revealed that his father has never been particularly bothered about food, and would frequently miss meals at home. He believes Harry wouldn’t have struggled too greatly when it came to going hungry in the jungle: “He’s weird,” he joked.
The former footballer disclosed that he had also been invited to appear on the programme: “I got offered it the next year,” he said. “It was a year after dad did it. My agent called me up, and he said ‘Would you like …’ and I said ‘How can I match that?’ My dad just killed it, didn’t he?'”
Injury Struggles During Playing Career
Jamie went on to suggest that his footballing career ought to have concluded earlier than it did. Jamie’s time in the Premier League, where he made his name at Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton, was hampered by a series of injuries, which he acknowledges made life “really difficult.”
In one particularly notable instance, he claims he likely caused himself lasting damage by returning to the pitch far too early.
Jamie said: “We’re losing one-nil to Bristol City in the FA Cup. It’s horrendous….Graeme Souness is the manager and I sit down to listen to Graeme and as I go to get up my knee just locks – I can’t move. I cannot straighten my leg. It was the weirdest sensation.”
With Liverpool staring down the barrel of a humiliating loss, Jamie was reluctant to be taken off. Nevertheless, a doctor was summoned, and it was established that he had sustained a meniscus tear.
He was required to undergo surgery to fix the injury — an operation that in the modern era would typically demand a six-month