A close friend of Mike Tindall believes the star has been "struggling" on I'm A Celebrity because it has been "The Matt Hancock Show".
TV presenter Alex Payne, 42 - who co-hosts The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast with Mike, and former I'm A Celebrity star James Haskell - can tell from watching the ITV series that the former England rugby union player started to become "quite bored" with jungle life after the former Health Secretary arrived in camp.
He said: "It's been very odd for us watching him in there [the jungle] knowing him as well as we do, and just sort of seeing the motions. I think this week he's struggling a little bit with it and he's been getting quite bored with it all, because it's become the Matt Hancock Show.
"What I do like is for the pale, male, stale brigade - middle-aged blokes - he's actually holding the end up alright."
Ahead of Mr Hancock's appearance in the jungle - for which he was suspended by the Tory Party - Mike, 44, showed off his secret talent of rapping in one of I'm A Celebrity's opening episodes.
He wowed his fellow campmates with versions of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's Boom! Shake the Room and Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby, but Alex believes he may have gone too early with his main "party pieces".
Speaking on the podcast, Alex said: "He fired out both raps, he did [nail it], but he did both on the first show. Those are pretty much his party pieces. So he may have to rap again in week two to reinvigorate the vote."
England rugby union vice-captain Jack Nowell, 29, has also been tuning into the ITV show to see how Mike is getting on, and insists the World Cup winner has been "exactly how he is" in normal life.
He said: "I think he's been brilliant. I don't normally watch I'm A Celebrity. I did actually watch it when Hask was in, I tell him I didn't watch it, but I did watch it.
"It's a bit different when you know someone who is in there because it adds a bit to it.
"I think the problem with those shows is sometimes it can show certain things and he might come across differently to how we know him.
"But watching him he's exactly how he is, and you can tell everybody in the jungle loves him as well."
Mike shocked I'm A Celebrity viewers over the weekend when he stripped down to a pair of budgie smugglers for a swim in camp, but Jack was impressed with his pal's attire.
Asked what he thinks of Mike in his budgie smugglers, he said: "Good. I think everyone who wears budgies is good. Confidence to be in them."
