Mike Tindall has told how he said an emotional goodbye on the Royal Estate to head off for a royal reality show - and was warned by his wife to take care when eating.
The rugby hardman rarely shows emotion but speaking about leaving his family, Mike admitted tears were shed and he even hoped for more signs of sadness from his beloved children.
Mike said: "Obviously, it's difficult but the saving grace is going to a country that we know very well, and Zara understands and gets it and that makes it a lot easier.
"It's one of those things with the kids I've had a couple of phone calls while I've been here. They say they're going to miss you when you leave but when you ring them, they're like hi dad, bye. Then they are off doing whatever they do.
"I expected there to be more tears than there actually are."
Mike, 44, is married to the late Queen 's granddaughter Zara Tindall making him the first royal reality TV star for decades.
On leaving her at home in Gloucestershire with the kids, he said: "Zara gets it and supports it – with both our careers, she goes away competing for weeks at a time and I always went on tours for 3-4 weeks in the summer.
"So our relationship has always been built to deal with that and we're good at compartmentalising and finding ways to deal with it.
"Zara told me to go and be myself, which is all you can be. She said to go enjoy yourself and be yourself. Zara's biggest worry is how loud I am when I eat.
"She will be very happy if someone comments about how loud I breathe when I eat because it's always a point that she brings up. When your nose has been mangled as much as mine has it is just a byproduct."
On the start of their relationship, which led to marriage In 2011, he said: "We did meet in Australia – it would been, now you're testing my knowledge of what the dates should be. We would have met for the first time in November 2003. "
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The couple now have three children, Mia, Lena and Lucas Tindall ranging from eight to one.
They are too young for the 9pm start time of I'm A Celebrity but may watch clips and discussing this Tindall let slip he calls his wife 'Z'.
He added: "With the kids it'll be the case of they'd be in bed before the show goes out on a normal evening, so it'll be down to Z to get them the highlights – only the good stuff probably."
Asked if the family will be coming out to support him or offered any words of advice, he added: "We're not entirely sure yet, we haven't fully made that decision and it's probably how deep into the show we go, and we have some work out here so if it got to the end then hopefully, she'd be able to come out and get some vitamin D in you."
Mike has been a target of ITV's for several years for the show after appearing on Channel 4 sport reality show The Jump.
But he admitted he turned down the contract whilst the show was in colder climates.
He said: "The discussions started over a year ago. They asked me while it was in Wales but Wales wasn't that appealing to me!
"We come to Australia quite a bit for a couple of stuff that we do over here and saying they were coming back obviously I chatted to Hask ( James Haskell ) about it.
"He thought I'd have quite a bit of fun doing it and then we have other commitments over here not long after so it all fitted together well to make it worthwhile doing in.
"What I expect from it I'm not entirely sure but hopefully if we have a good bunch of people in camp it'll be fun, Hask said he had quite a bit of fun with it so I’m looking forward to it."
It wasn't all the queen's English as Haskell also swore during our chat, surprisingly saying: "It's an experience for me more than anything else. It's always good to ask questions about yourself even if you don't have fears.
"You can bury me in a s*** load of spiders and maggots and suddenly I might panic. Unfortunately, it might develop a fear in me, I don't know."
Asked if he will be vulnerable in camp, he said: "I would say probably not. That's probably not something that comes out of me. Hopefully you'll just get me.
"You'll get someone that for their whole life has been around a team environment so I always want to try and fit in and bond with people because with an adventure like this - with all those people that want to win it you can't function without the rest of the other moving parts in there.
"You have to create good bonds and friendships otherwise it’ll be a miserable time and it won't be enjoyable.
"You'll see someone that'll help everyone come together and ultimately, you've got to work together to get your food and I am very keen on winning as much as we can, we will try and work towards that and have some fun along the way.
"I imagine it will be quite hot and humid in there so it's not a great environment to be happy all the time if there are people that are just thinking about themselves that can and everyone else is trying to work together in a team that’ll be the only thing that will probably frustrate.
"I think I am just using it mainly as an experience, a once in a lifetime sort of experience to have a go at."
I'm a Celebrity returns on Sunday (November 5) on ITV and ITV Hub from 9pm.
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