Rugby player Mike Tindall has quickly won over campmates and fans of I'm A Celeb with his sense of humour, kindness, and rap skills. The dad of three has made no secret that he's missing his family while in the jungle, sharing plenty of stories about them.
Mike, 44, is married to the grand-daughter of Queen Elizabeth, Zara, making him the first royal to appear on the reality show. Despite his royal status, the rugby player has been open about his family life and relationship. Fans have been happily listening to the proud dad as he shares more and more about his relationship with Zara, 41, and their life together.
Cheeky wardrobe malfunctions with Princess Anne
Mike confessed to Seann Walsh and Babatúndé Aléshé that he is a fan of dancing but sometimes this leads to suits ripping due to his rugby player physique. He said: ""I love a suit. My problem with suits is I over exaggerate dancing at weddings… I rip a lot of suits, trousers and stuff."
Seann laughed and said: "Course you do." Mike continued: "The old sl*t drop gets me every time. I went to a wedding, ripped a suit, they were like, 'Oh my god, what are you going to do?' I was like, 'Don't worry, I've got a spare.' They were like, 'Who brings a spare suit?' Someone who rips a lot of trousers brings a spare suit."
His love of s**t drops landed him in an unfortunate situation with his mother-in-law, Princess Anne. He said: "Zara had like a 30th birthday, it was a disco 70s themed one, I was dancing on the dance floor, I had like flares on, full outfit but it was quite tight, nothing ever fits - rugby player's bum and legs - so I was dancing with my mother-in-law, and I did a sl*t drop in front of my mother-in-law."
In the Bush Telegraph Seann said: "Mike sl*t dropped in front of Princess Anne, and that is not the end of the story… that's already, what are you thinking?"
Mike then added: "Ripped my trousers straight in front of her. It happened to be that my boxers that I had on at that time said, 'nibble my nuts'. As I've turned round, she's gone, 'I'd rather not.' I've gone, 'I'm going,' and walked off."
His campmates applauded the hilarious story and Seann remarked that he'd "love to go to a party with Mike".
A surprise home birth
In one candid chat with fellow contestants, Mike chatted about the birth of his son Lucas which was a surprise home birth at Gatcombe Park.
Sparing no details, Mike said: "As we got our stuff to go to hospital, she got out of the bath, she could barely stand, she was shaking.
"The midwife was like, 'She's not making the hospital.' She was like, 'You don't want to be delivering in the car.' Into the gym, two gym mats down in the bathroom."
He added that Zara's labour pains were intense, giving her a boost in strength. Mike said: "She was, it was fast though, from that moment. She almost choked me to death.
"You can’t say anything can you? ‘Can you let go, you’re really hurting me?!'" Baby Lucas was born on March 21, 2021, safely in the Tindall's bathroom.
A 'boozy' first date
Mike's fairytale with Zara actually started with much more booze than most princess stories. The pair began dating back in 2003 after meeting at the Rugby World Cup in Australia.
"I was at the World Cup, she was out watching," he told campmates Babatúndé and Owen Warner. "I got dropped from the semi-final. I was p****d off and so I went for a beer with another guy who got dropped and a guy who was over [in Sydney].
"They’d met her before and they introduced us and then got chatting."
Owen replied: "So if you never got dropped you never would have met her?"
Mike jokingly answered: "Best decision of Clive Woodward's life" to which Owen added: "Thank god he dropped you."
Zara and Mike hit it off and went for "lunch locally" for their first real date. Mike added: "Ended up being quite a boozy one. Then we figured out that we both quite like getting smashed. It was a good start."
Secret signals in camp
Eagle eyed viewers may have spotted the rugby pro touching his earlobes at moments in I'm A Celeb, which has been revealed as a secret sign for his friends and family.
A clip of his podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, was shared on TikTok in which he and his co-hosts Alex Payne and James Haskell discuss a secret signal for Mike to show he's thinking of them.
In the episode, which was recorded before Mike entered the jungle, the trio discuss Mike having "a little tell". "Can you have like a little tell, can you do a little catty ear lobe or something on one of the challenges to let us know that you're thinking of us?" asked his co-hosts.
Mike agreed and can be spotted fiddling with his earlobe as he waits for Ant and Dec to reveal who is doing the bushtucker trial. His fellow podcast hosts shared the clip with the caption: "How many of you spotted Mike Tindall's little sign for us tonight?"
Mike's one habit that Zara hates
Before entering the I'm A Celebrity jungle, Mike shared that he has a habit which Zara always picks him up on. Apparently the daughter of Princess Anne hates how loud he is when eating.
He said: “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.
"But when your nose has been mangled as much as mine has - it is just a byproduct." The rugby player broke his nose numerous times during his career, which ended in 2014.
He has since had surgery on his nose but could only breathe out of his mouth for a time due to a collapsed nostril.
Despite worries about his loud eating, his wife is supportive of him appearing on the show. He said: "Zara told me to go and be myself, which is all you can be. She said to go enjoy yourself and be yourself."
