Runner-up and Hollyoaks star Owen Warner won over nation with comical moments

Owen Warner captured the heart of the nation during his time on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! entertaining with his down-to-earth musings on life and endless appetite.

The Leicestershire-born actor, who appears in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks, came second on the ITV reality show after being beaten by former England footballer Jill Scott.

Warner became a firm favourite throughout this year’s series for his unintended comical moments, which began in the first episode when he was introduced to fellow campmate Scarlette Douglas.

The 23-year-old was told the TV presenter was “from A Place In The Sun” to which he responded: “Whereabouts?”.

Another moment came when radio broadcaster Chris Moyles spotted the chance for a wind-up and convinced Warner he was a three-time UK and world champion dancer, developing the lie as the series continued.

Warner, impressed by the deception, responded: “You’ve done it all, mate.”

During the finale episode the joke was revealed to Warner who was completely taken aback, asking hosts Ant and Dec: “So he wasn’t a world champion dancer?”

Warner gained popularity not just with viewers but with his fellow campmates, receiving touching gestures of kindness during his time in the Australian jungle.

Lioness Scott and Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver, who he often referred too as his camp sister and mum, substituted their balls for Warner’s in the lead up to a tombola which would see three lucky winners jet off to a luxury BBQ beach day, in which he did not win.

Throughout the series, hunger was an over-riding struggle for Warner, who admitted he always had food on the brain.

His fellow campmates were also acutely aware of his pain, with Scott mentioning during her Critty Critty Fang Fang Bushtucker trial: “I’ve just got Owen’s face in my head and he’d kill us if I didn’t get these stars.”

The series also saw Warner explain to his campmates how he had found out the news he had been cast in Hollyoaks while making himself a 60p student meal at university.

“My agent bells me and she’s like, ‘Hi Owen, I’m really sorry but you’re going to have to clear your schedule because you got the part’. I was so gassed man,” he said.

Warner got his big break joining the Channel 4 soap in 2018 as character Romeo Nightingale, the long-lost son of troubled character James Nightingale, who is played by Gregory Finnegan.

During his time on the drama, his character has been involved in a number of dramatic storylines, including a love triangle involving Lily McQueen and her husband Prince.

Before entering the Australian jungle, Warner said he was keen for people to get to know the real him rather than the character he plays.