From Gino D’Acampo to Giovanna Fletcher – where are the I’m A Celebrity winners now?

The 21st series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! isn’t too far away

Find out how the previous victors fared after they were crowned King or Queen of the Jungle.

When it comes to picking winners, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! is one of the most unpredictable shows around.

Cast your eye over this list of past Jungle Kings and Queens, and you’ll see that it isn’t necessarily strength, speed, or fame that makes a winner – rather a certain quality that the audience can connect with.

While the 20th series of the show is taking place away from its familiar surroundings in the Australian rainforest, the celebrities camping out at Gwrych Castle near Abergele in North Wales will have to show the same qualities if they are to be crowned the first – and possibly only – King or Queen of the Castle.

Ahead of the new series which launches on ITV on Sunday, November 15, we take a look at what the 19 previous winners have got up to since they left the jungle.

Series 1 (2002) – Tony Blackburn

I’m a Celeb’s first-ever winner has had a chequered career since being crowned King of the Jungle.

In 2004, he was briefly suspended from his job at Classic Gold Digital for playing too many Cliff Richard records, but further controversy was to come when he joined BBC Radio 2.

The BBC sacked Tony in 2016 when a discrepancy arose over whether he had been interviewed about an alleged incident in the 1970s concerning Jimmy Savile’s sexual abuse on BBC premises.

He was eventually given his job back and opened his return show by playing Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.

Series 2 (2003) – Phil Tufnell

Tuffers has capitalised on his success since winning the show, carving out a new post-cricket career for himself in reality TV.

He took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2008 and managed to make it to week nine as a surprise hit on the dancefloor.

Phil had a heavy TV contest year in 2015, taking on both celebrity talent show Get Your Act Together and winter games competition The Jump.

He has also been a team captain on long-running BBC panel show A Question of Sport.

Series 3 (January 2004) – Kerry Katona

Former Atomic Kitten star Kerry Katona revitalised her TV career with a jungle win.

After her Celeb triumph, she was the focus of three fly-on-the-wall MTV documentary series about her life between 2007 and 2009 – Kerry Katona: Crazy in Love, Kerry Katona: Whole Again, and Kerry Katona: What’s the Problem?

The singer tried her luck on Dancing on Ice in 2010, reaching week five, and was the runner-up in Celebrity Big Brother 2011, ticking off two more boxes on the list of TV’s biggest reality shows.

She was briefly reunited with her Atomic Kitten bandmates in 2012 to perform on stage together for the first time in 11 years and took part in ITV’s 90s pop series, the Big Reunion in 2013.

Series 4 (November 2004) – Joe Pasquale

We couldn’t get enough of jungle life in 2004, and when we returned Down Under for the show’s first series in its now traditional pre-Christmas slot, comedian Joe Pasquale was named the winner.

Spurred on by his success, Joe took part in Dancing on Ice in 2013 and even returned the following year for the All Star series.

2016 saw Joe cutting out the sweet stuff and undergoing some pretty brutal ‘cleansing’ regimes as part of ITV’s Sugar Free Farm and of course, he still tours as a comedian.

Series 5 (2005) – Carol Thatcher

As unlikely winners go, you’d be hard pressed to find one more unusual than Carol Thatcher.

It seems outlandish that the daughter of Margaret Thatcher would win a popular public vote to come out on top in a TV show, but that’s what happened and Carol was briefly a fond favourite of viewers.

In 2007, she travelled to the Falkland Islands and Argentina to examine her mother’s legacy in a documentary called Mummy’s War, and was a regular contributor to The One Show.

However, her popularity came crashing down in 2009 when it emerged that she had talked about tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga using a racial slur in the programme’s green room. When she refused to apologise for her language, she was told she would never work on the programme again.

Series 6 (2006) – Matt Willis

Busted star Matt Willis shed two stone in the jungle, which was just the start of reinventing his career.

The year after winning, he and then-girlfriend Emma Griffiths, who changed her name to Willis when they married, went out to Australia to present spin-off show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here Now! which they hosted until their first child was born in 2009.

Matt has gone back to his musical roots since the show, linking up with McFly to perform as supergroup McBusted before reforming Busted in 2015.

He’s also pursued an acting career, with roles in Birds of a Feather and EastEnders as well as appearances on the West End stage in productions of Flashdance, Footloose, Wicked and Little Shop of Horrors.

Matt and Emma now have three children and have been married for over 10 years.

Series 7 (2007) – Christopher Biggins

This is another one of those awkward moments in I’m a Celeb’s history where we’d all held the winner up as a national treasure, and then another reality TV appearance showed a less lovable side to them.

Biggins did the rounds of TV contests for a few years after his popular win, taking part in Celebrity MasterChef, Celebrity Five Go To…, and Celebrity Come Dine with Me.

However, he may have been better off sticking with his panto career as a 2016 Celebrity Big Brother appearance ended in shame.

The actor was removed from the house on day nine of the contest for making offensive remarks including anti-semitic comments and slurs against bisexuals.

Series 8 (2008) – Joe Swash

Former EastEnder Joe Swash is one of the show’s most beloved stars and has returned to the jungle on a regular basis since his victory.

Since 2009, Joe has co-presented the spin-off show which began as I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here Now! and has been renamed I’m a Celebrity: Extra Camp.

Joe is usually joined by stars from the previous series each year to give us a closer look at what’s going on in the jungle. He’s also loved up with fellow reality TV slatwart Stacey Solomon with whom he has baby Rex and co-parents their three boys.

Series 9 (2009) – Gino D’Acampo

Chef Gino D’Acampo was always going to be popular with his campmates for being the one most likely to make the dreaded rice and beans palatable.

However, he and Stuart Manning ran into trouble on leaving the show when they were charged with animal cruelty by the Australian police for killing and cooking a rat in camp – although charges were dropped when ITV accepted responsibility.

Gino’s successful career as a TV chef has continued apace, with his regular role on This Morning, a three-year run with Let’s Do Lunch with Gino and Mel, six series of Gino’s Italian Escape, and as one of the panellists on Celebrity Juice.

Series 10 (2010) – Stacey Solomon

Only a year after reaching the final of the X Factor, Stacey Solomon went one better by being named Queen of the Jungle, 

Since then, Stacey has hosted a number of weird and wonderful shows, including Sing If You Can with Keith Lemon, dating show The Love Machine with Chris Moyles, and judging ITV2’s Top Dog Model.

The star Stacey Solomon has landed a new TV role, becoming a team captain on new ITV2 show CelebAbility. Iain Stirling is joined by new team captain Stacey Solomon, who leads a group of three friends looking to win a slew of fabulous prizes.

Iain told us “It’s absolutely bonkers! I’m describing it as ‘Eggheads’ meets ‘Celebrity Juice’.

Stacey Solomon, 30, admitted she frequently tells “necessary” lies to boyfriend Joe Swash, 38, as a way of keeping their relationship “alive”, after over five years together. The singer, who welcomed son Rex with the presenter last year, got candid on her romance as she appeared on ITV game show CelebAbility.

She co-presented spin-off Extra Camp in 2016 and made an appearance on the live final of the X Factor in 2017. These days Stacey is most likely to be seen thrashing out the issues of the day as a panellist on Loose Women.

Series 11 (2011) – Dougie Poynter

Following in his friend Matt Willis’s footsteps, McFly’s Dougie Poynter was the winner in 2011.

Like Matt, Dougie was part of the McBusted supergroup from 2013 to 2015. He’s also continued down a number of other musical roads with McFly, as a bassist for band A, and as a songwriter for One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer.

He has done some modelling work, written a series of children’s books called The Dinosaur that Pooped with bandmate Tom Fletcher, and dedicated himself to various environmental and conservation projects.

And in good news for McFly fans, the bassist told the Sappenin’ Podcast in January 2019 that the band would be writing music together during the summer.

Series 12 (2012) – Charlie Brooks

We knew her as EastEnders’ terrifying Janine, but Charlie Brooks showed us she was nothing like her Albert Square character during her time in the jungle.

Charlie has returned to EastEnders several times since 2012, making her last appearance from a prison cell in March 2014.

She has narrated documentary series Botched Up Bodies and appeared in TV series including Suspects, Moving On and The Dumping Ground.

Series 13 (2013) – Kian Egan

Kian Egan was at a loose end in 2013 when his boyband, Westlife, called it a day. He couldn’t have timed it better – following his jungle win, Kian had a brief solo career and continued with his regular reporting slot on This Morning.

He also returned to his role as a mentor on The Voice of Ireland, which he starred in until 2016, and in 2015 presented TV’s Fat Pets: Slimmer of the Year with Angela Griffin.

In 2019, Kian reunited with three of his Westlife bandmates to mark their 20^th year in the business.

Series 14 (2014) – Carl ‘Foggy’ Fogarty

World Superbike champion Foggy was another of the show’s surprise winners: he wasn’t widely known before taking part, but won viewers over with his bravery and sense of humour.

Strangely, the thing Foggy has become best known for since winning the jungle crown is for welcoming a fellow campmate into his family.

After leaving the jungle, he introduced co-star Jake Quickenden to his daughter Danielle. The pair got engaged in 2017 but split in 2018, much to Foggy’s sadness.

Series 15 (2015) – Vicky Pattison

Who would have thought a Geordie Shore star could become a Jungle Queen?

Vicky Pattison ditched the boozy nights out and most of the drama to become the most popular contestant on the show’s 15th series, enjoying a busy TV career ever since.

She had a stint as a panellist on Loose Women, was a team captain on the Eamonn Holmes show It’s Not Me, It’s You, did the obligatory winner’s shift on I’m a Celebrity: Extra Camp, and took part in Celebrity Hunted for Stand Up To Cancer partnered with comedian Dom Joly.

Vicky was such a jungle success that earlier in 2018 she even returned to camp for the Australian version of I’m a Celebrity, in which she placed fourth.

Series 16 (2016) – Scarlett Moffatt

If you thought the world had gone mad when a Geordie Shore star won the show, it was even more of a shock when her crown passed on to a resident of the Gogglebox sofa.

Scarlett Moffatt could barely be classed as a celebrity when she entered the jungle, but left it as a huge star and a viewer favourite.

The show launched her career, bagging her roles as a team captain on E4’s Virtually Famous, a co-presenter with her TV heroes on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, and Channel 4 even relaunched classic dating show Streetmate with Scarlett at the helm.

Of course, she has presented I’m a Celebrity: Extra Camp, too.

Series 17 (2017) – Georgia ‘Toff’ Toffolo

Made in Chelsea’s Georgia Toffolo made it a hat-trick of reality TV Queens of the Jungle when the posh girl showed the common touch to win viewers’ hearts.

Toff, who had taken part in Celebs Go Dating prior to her trip Down Under, hasn’t had too much time to take on other projects since her victory.

However, she has returned to her day job on Made in Chelsea and has also joined the presenting team on This Morning.

Series 18 (2018) – Harry Redknapp 

Football manager Harry Redknapp didn’t have a clue about flossing (though did a pretty nifty routine once shown the ropes), hadn’t heard of Toy Story, and claimed not to know what his fellow camp mates were going on about most of the time.

Yet he soon won over campmates and the public alike with his hapless tales of life on and off the pitch and his all-out devotion for his wife Sandra  (despite admitting that he had once run her over). There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when in one episode he was treated to a surprise visit from her in the jungle.

Harry still works as a pundit and brought out his book, The World According To Harry in 2019.

Series 19 (2019) – Jacqueline Jossa

Former EastEnders actress Jacqueline Jossa was crowned Queen of the Jungle by the narrowest of margins, winning 50.61% of the final vote to pip fellow soap star, Coronation Street’s Andy Whyment, to the title.

Jacqueline – Lauren Branning in the BBC soap told fans this week that she is NOT pregnant – and has just gained weight. had to overcome two of her biggest fears to triumph in Australia. She put her fear of spiders behind her as she completed 10 Bushtucker Trials including Face Your Fears, in which she had to share a plastic helment with dozens of the eight-legged critters. 

Harder to overcome was being away from her two daughters for so long, but support from  campmates James Haskell, Roman Kemp and Caitlyn Jenner, and her camp ‘luxury’ – a pillow bearing photos of her girls – saw her go the distance.

Since leaving the jungle, Jacqueline has swapped filming for fashion as she devised and modelled a new clothing collection for In The Style. She has also been adapting to her new-found confidence.

“I went in as one person, I feel like I have come out as a different person. I’ve grown in confidence and found who I am as a person,” she said of her jungle experience.

Series 20 (2020) – Giovanna Fletcher

Author, actress, blogger, vlogger and presenter Giovanna Fletcher made history in the show’s 20th series by being crowned the first Queen of the Castle as the whole production, prevented by the Covid pandemic from travelling to New South Wales, set up camp in North Wales instead.

Giovanna Fletcher recently said being a mum is really intense.

The shift from the leafy Australian rainforest to the chilly halls of Gwrych Castle made for a refreshing change for the landmark 20th season, but the recipe for success remained the same, as Giovanna’s caring and supportive nature and constant good humour soon earned her the role of camp ‘mum’.

Giovanna’s margin of victory in the final was the smallest since ITV started releasing voting figures, as she beat radio presenter Jordan North by just 0.54% of the public vote.

“I didn’t expect to have as much fun,” she said on leaving the camp.

“It’s been a strange year for everyone and the biggest part was human connection; the hugs, the chats. 

“I feel like I showed that mums can do anything and mostly I hope I made my kids proud.”

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! returns to ITV in November 2021