Mike Tindall Is “Prepared” For the Difficult Tasks on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!

A new season of classic U.K. reality show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! is premiering next week, and royal husband Mike Tindall will be one of the cast members. After a few weeks of speculation, ITV confirmed Monday that the former rugby player and spouse of Princess Anne’s daughter Zara would be joining the show for its 22nd season, which is filming in Australia.

The show is well known for subjecting famous people to occasionally humiliating outdoor challenges, and Tindall told the network that he predicted his friends would vote him into the show’s toughest stunts. “I am fully aware that anyone who has ever played rugby will go, ‘Yeah, let’s stitch him up,’” he said. “All my friendship group has that sort of humor, and I know they will definitely want to vote for me! I am prepared to do quite a lot of challenges.”

After two seasons filmed at Gwrych Castle in Wales due to the coronavirus pandemic, the show will be returning to Dungay, Australia, with comedy duo Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly serving as hosts. Along with Tindall, this season’s cast will include pop star Boy George, pro soccer player Jill Scott, Love Island alum Olivia Attwood, comedian Babatunde Aléshé, Owen Warner of the TV show Hollyoaks, actress Sue Cleaver, former Channel 4 host Scarlette Douglas, journalist Charlene White, and Radio X host Chris Moyles. 

Tindall, who played professional rugby for nearly two decades and was a member of the 2003 England team that won the Rugby World Cup, was already well-known in England before he married Zara in 2011. Zara, a professional equestrian who won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, was born without a royal title and has never served as working royal. The couple have three children, eight-year-old Mia, four-year-old Lena, and one-year-old Lucas. In August 2020, he started the podcast The Good, The Bad and the Rugby with cohosts James Haskell and Alex Payne. 

Tindall told ITV that Haskell influenced his decision to join the show. “I am ready to rumble! I have been asked on numerous occasions to take part,” he said. “The timing was right this year and Hask did the show and he had been talking about it.” He added he would miss a few home comforts. “First and foremost, I will miss my family. I will miss my bed too and a nice breakfast.”

Tindall’s global name recognition got a major bump when he made a few scene stealing appearances at the Platinum Jubilee in June, including one viral Instagram photo taken after he borrowed Zara’s fuschia hat.

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