Frankie Dettori explains jubilant reaction to I’m A Celebrity elimination

Frankie Dettori has said he celebrated after finding out he was the first contestant to be voted out of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! because he knew he was “never going to win it”.

The jockey said it was a “bittersweet” moment when his name was called after it was revealed that he and YouTuber Nella Rose had received the fewest votes from the public and were up for elimination.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Obviously I wanted to get to the final … but with characters like Sam (Thompson) and (Nigel) Farage and Tony (Bellew) and Marvin (Humes) and Josie (Gibson), I was never going to win, so actually the thought of spending the one more week there maybe was going to be a bit hard for me.

“So it was bittersweet – the sweet part is I got to come out and meet my lovely wife, have some time here in the Gold Coast waiting for my other campmates to come out and greet them when they come out.”

During the Italian jockey’s 12 days in camp, he was a team leader for a period, won the camp a “breakfast of champions” and took on a number of trials.

Discussing the time he spent with former Ukip leader Farage in the jungle, he said: “I met Nigel before I went to the jungle. He is a character, larger than life, he is very interesting, very knowledgeable, he is actually a good laugh.

“I never got to talk to him about politics because I’m not interested, I don’t know that world, but when he comes one on one as a person he is very interesting and always good fun as well.”

However, Dettori said he would back Made In Chelsea star Thompson to win the ITV series over Farage.

He said: “My bet would be Sam. He brings a lot to the table, he’s entertaining, he is silly, he sings, he is happy and I think what people is going to like about him is all of that. That … to me is the winner.

“Sometimes I wish you could hit the pause button. I talk a lot, but he talks non-stop.”

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! continues on ITV.