Nick Pickard reveals sweet reason he wants Hits Radio's Sam Thompson to win
The Hollyoaks legend is backing our boy!
We have been so incredibly proud of our very own presenter Sam Thompson in the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle. Sam, who you can hear on Hits Radio, has been an utter joy to watch in the camp, and we're all backing him to take the crown during the final on Sunday night (10th Dec).
We're not the only ones throwing our support behind Sam, as every campmate who's come out of the jungle has named him as their favourite to win! We caught up with Nick Pickard, who was evicted from the jungle in Wednesday night's show (6th Dec), who revealed an incredibly heartwarming reason behind rooting for Sam...
After being asked by Fleur East, James and Matt how Sam was doing in the jungle, Nick said: "Do you know what, as much as I think they all deserve to to win it, Sam's my favourite to do it.
"Sam is obviously somebody I'd like to win it, because there's not one person in there that he hasn't picked up. When you're low, you just watch him and you go, 'Ahh'. You know what I mean? You're in here with him. Thank God for that. That's all I say."
READ MORE: Sam Thompson's mum Karen reveals how she feels seeing him on I'm A Celeb
Nick was also asked if he'd endorse a spin-off show with Sam and boxing legend Tony Bellew, as the pair have struck up quite the friendship! He answered: "Oh they are great together, aren't they? I think they are," before joking: "I think Marvin's feeling a bit left out because there was an original bromance with the two of them, wasn't there? He's a turncoat!"
Sam has truly been on quite the journey while Down Under, and there has certainly never been a celebrity in the history of the show with more enthusiasm for Bushtucker Trials than he. Take a look at some of our favourite Sam moments from the show so far...
Sam Thompson's best I'm A Celeb moments so far:
Sam gets announced for I'm A Celeb
After weeks of rumours, Sam was officially confirmed as a contestant on the 2023 series on Monday 13th November!
Taking to social media after the news was made public, Sam said: '✨The rumours were true ✨ I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be joining the adventure of a lifetime on #ImACeleb 🐍🕷️Tune into @itv every night from Sunday 19th November to see how I get on… wish me luck! 😱'.
Sam gets a send off from his girlfriend Zara McDermott
After Sam supported his girlfriend Zara throughout her time on Strictly Come Dancing, the former Love Island star is now repaying the favour!
When Sam headed over to Australia ahead of the start date, Zara shared this cute photo of the pair, writing: 'HES GONE DOWN UNDER !!! 🦘🇦🇺🌏 the rumours were true, I am so proud of you and so excited for you and for this adventure. I cannot wait to watch you every single night and be supporting you every step of the way. ❤️ p.s. can we all please vote for Sam to do one of the eating challenges?? I think it would make great entertainment considering how squeamish he is 😂😅'. (sic)
Sam lived up to his name of being the BEST hugger
The minute Sam landed in Australia, he immediately kept up his reputation of being the best hugger of all time! Joining former EastEnders star Danielle Harold, First Dates' Fred Siriex and food critic Grace Dent, Sam went straight in for the hug - and it was definitely what they all needed before taking on their challenge... Viewers loved how excitable Sam was and flooded comments sections on social media with support for him.
He absolutely smashed his first challenge
Along with Grace, Danielle and Fred, Sam was whizzed round on an incredible helicopter ride... Before being plopped on top of a 32-storey building on Australia's Gold Coast. They were then instructed to climb down to a terrifyingly small platform, shimmy themselves down a pole and undo carabiners while pushing a star to the end of the pole - all in under three minutes! Thankfully, they were gracefully lifted to safety and not forced to jump off the end.
Learning some JLS moves with Marvin
After the campmates noticed that Jamie Lynn Spears was looking particularly down, she broke down to the group and they immediately rallied round her to try and lift her spirits. As the audience has dubbed Sam a "golden retriever in human form", he was a perfect candidate to be involved in the cheer-up team! He excitedly encouraged her to have a bath, going on to suggest they sing a song to her.
As JLS singer Marvin Humes walked past, Sam roped him in to join the serenading party - before admitting in the Bush Telegraph that he was actually a HUGE fan of JLS. So viewers laughed along as an incredibly odd scene played out - Sam and Marvin singing 'Everybody In Love' as First Date's Fred Siriex played the drums on a bucket. What a scene! Marvin taught Sam the choreography to the hit song as well as 'She Makes Me Wanna' - something they performed for the group later in the episode. Wholesome fun!
Comparing his cats to Jamie Lynn's children
Fans of the show could see Jamie Lynn really suffering on Day 3, missing her kids - Maddie and Ivey - and her spirits weren't able to be lifted after four of the campmates unsuccessfully attempted to win her luxury item... A picture of her daughters!
We all know that Sam is a ray of sunshine, and took it upon himself to try and make her feel better... By comparing Jamie Lynn missing her kids to him missing his cats at home! He said: "I get it man, I've got two cats at home - Albus and Cedric - little fluffy men. Know what I mean? So I get it. Not kids, but I get it." Not QUITE the same Sam, but good try!
Sam got candid about the hilarious reason he joined Made In Chelsea
In a chilled conversation with fellow telly stars Josie Gibson and Fred Siriex, Sam was enthralled by Josie's tale of how she got her job on This Morning. He told the Bush Telegraph: "Everyone's got a story and it's never as easy as it looks. Really awesome for someone like me to hear, if you believe you can do whatever you put your mind to. I really liked it."
He then opened up about his own start to fame - revealing the hilarious reason why he wanted to be on the show: "When I started doing Made In Chelsea, I genuinely thought, I was like, the only reason I'm doing it is to get into nightclubs for free and to hopefully go on a date! So I was like this could be great, I'll do that for like two years then just get like a real job." When Josie asked him if he got all the dates he wanted, he quipped: "No, I kept on getting in relationships!"
Sam triumphed at the Scarena
After the campmates took part in a group trial at the Scarena, Sam finished in the top five to join the Home camp, as they compete for the breakfast of dreams. Coached by new campmate Frankie Dettori, the camp is also made up of Jamie Lynn Spears, Danielle Harold, Fred Siriex and Nella Rose.
He was overcome with emotion at the Breakfast of Champions
As part of the Home team, Sam won the Breakfast of Champions after taking part in the Head to Head games at the Scarena. They all thoroughly enjoyed their incredible brekkie made up of scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, toast, orange juice and plenty more besides. During the huge eating session, Sam couldn't help himself and went in for a hug with Fred, who kindly participated for a few seconds before asking Sam to let him eat. Bless 'em!
Bossing the Fishy Business Bushtucker Trial with Nella
Sam was voted by the public to take part in the Fishy Business trial along with Nella. Nella's role was to stand in an enclosed space with spiders and crocs, reading out questions, and Sam's role was to find which sea creatures' box corresponded to the answer. He then had to remove a star with his tongue before even finding out if the answer was correct! The pair won a massive 10 out of 12 stars between them, conducting the trial in only 12 minutes.
In true Sam style, he told Ant and Dec how much of an honour it was to be stood before them taking part in a task: "It's a pleasure, it's an honour. I've always wanted to be stood here looking at you guys like this, so this is just really, really cool." Hilariously, Sam was confronted by a load of toads in one box, just like the initiation we put him through here at Hits Radio before he headed out to Australia!
Being a total fanboy over Tony Bellew
Once the Away team rejoined the Home lot in Main Camp, Sam was wholly excited to meet boxing legend Tony Bellew. He immediately asked if he could hug him, which Tony was thankfully happy to oblige, later telling the Bush Telegraph: "I've watched a tonne of his fights. He's bigger in real life, he's a unit." Fred even commented on it in his own Bush Telegraph interview: "Sam is so excited that Tony Bellew has arrived in the jungle. He can't believe his eyes and he can't believe his ears!" He later compared hand sizes with Tony, excitedly telling Marvin: "This hand is just a hand, but this hand has knocked out so many people!"
Being crowned Camp Leader
In the first leadership vote, Sam was crowned Camp Leader - and immediately celebrated in true Sam style by jumping up and down and doing a few laps of the camp! He was then tasked with choosing a deputy leader which - of course - went to Marvin, before the pair of them went off to choose the rest of the camp roles.
Pepping up Jamie Lynn
We knew Sam would be great for camp morale before he even entered the jungle - his enthusiasm for everything is infectious! In the episode on Tues 28th Nov, Jamie Lynn was once again seen struggling with camp conditions and expressed a desire to leave the jungle. After Sam tried to rally the camp by asking if everyone had a nice day, she asked Sam almost as a throwaway comment whether he ever had bad days - to which he sincerely replied that he did. She said: "That's nice to know," as he genuinely explained: "But I was up there by the shower, there are frogs everywhere - it was really, really pretty! I stood there and went, 'I'm never gonna be in a place where I can see that beautiful waterfall with loads of wild frogs just while you're showering. It's just so cool." Jamie Lynn agreed: "We're never going to do this again," as Sam jokingly encouraged her to think of the frogs if she ever wants to leave the camp. Cute!
THE LEECH
Sam woke up from his first night in the caravan as Camp Leader with his Deputy Marvin to find blood in his sleeping bag and instantly panicked - like we imagine the majority of people would. On closer inspection, there was a fair amount of blood in there... And he spotted the culprit! A leech had made its way into Sam's sleeping bag and had a field on day - where else? - his bum. Sam later told the Bush Telegraph that he felt "violated" and Marvin added in his own interview: "He certainly woke up on the wrong side of the leech."
When he slapped a literal professional boxer in the face
After winning a Dingo Dollar challenge together - during which viewers could see Tony very slowly but surely losing his patience - he and Sam headed over to Kiosk Kev, who rang the campmates to ask them the all important question and win some choccie biccies. As Sam was telling Tony the answer, he immediately slapped Tony in the forehead to kill a mosquito - yes, he slapped a former professional BOXER in the face. At least he was doing him a favour! Viewers were left in stitches as Tony took a very long exhale to calm himself, while Sam chatted away to himself about how Tony might have decked him. Sam's girlfriend Zara commented on the moment on Instagram, writing: 'I have never laughed so hard in my entire life... This is the most Sam thing ever,' with a whole host of laughing emojis.
He opened up about his ADHD diagnosis
Viewers have noticed how close Sam and JLS star Marvin Humes have become throughout the show, and in the episode on 30th Nov, heartstrings were pulled as Sam candidly spoke out about his ADHD diagnosis. While Marvin gently asked questions, Sam was happy to answer in a chat with Josie, revealing that he was only diagnosed last year: "There's loads of people who are actually like of a certain age who get diagnosed way later. When the low bits happen it goes low. But then the highs are really high."
He credited girlfriend Zara McDermott with keeping him on track: "My girlfriend Zara is so steady and it's so good for me. When she's going steady I'm going like that mimes wavy line," adding that he felt guilty for being "selfish" sometimes. He even spoke about his childhood: "Weird no one spotted it beforehand at school, but if you look at all of my report cards, every single one says the same, it says: 'Likeable enough guy, but lacks focus'. It's staring at you in the face. If I'd known as a kid, not much would have changed, but how you feel about yourself probably changes. I remember crying into my textbook because I couldn't understand the words going into my head. You want to do good. You don't want to be mischievous or anything like that." He then confessed that he'd love to be a dad, with Marvin reassuring him: "You would be the most incredible dad. Trust me, all my kids care about is giving them attention, being with them in the moment, loving them, cuddling them, they just want to have all of you and to be as fun as possible and feel loved."
Who's chopping onions?!
Receiving his letter from home
It was a bumper evening for the campmates during Sunday 3rd December's episode, as all 10 campmates received their letter from home thanks to the whole team working hard during a Dingo Dollar Challenge. Sam's letter was, of course, from his beloved girlfriend Zara McDermott, who wrote: "It's your Goose here. Keep shining, keep lighting up the camp in your special way and know just how beautiful a person everyone thinks you are." N'aww!
Acting out an improvised film with BFF Marvin
Marvin and Sam really took their friendship to the next level after they improvised a full film plot purely for their campmates' entertainment. Explaining what was going on to an absolutely bewildered Josie, Marvin explained how Sam's character was a cop gone bad and Marvin himself was his cop buddy. Josie ended up being pretty impressed, and we have to say - so were we!
Fooling the rest of camp with his Secret Mission
Sam was recruited by producers to stir up some drama, and in turn signed up Josie for the high jinks too - but with good reason. The pair were tasked with pretending to fail at a challenge so that the group could head out in the evening to the famous and beloved Jungle Arms. The pair poured slime and feathers all over themselves while wearing koala masks, then headed back to camp to tell their campmates the "bad" news. Josie took the fall, making out that she'd come up against some huntsman spiders and she couldn't cope - which is pretty believable!
Living out his dream by performing with Marvin
What a night it was! The campmates were well and truly treated to a night they'll never forget down at the Jungle Arms - and they all took part in some karaoke, as is tradition at this point on I'm A Celeb. Sam and Marvin took to the stage together to perform 'Everybody In Love'... And it was clear to see the utter joy on Sam's face at living out this dream!
Casually throwing berries at Tony like he's got a death wish
Sam well and truly poked the bear when he began started throwing berries at Tony, who was enjoying a mid-afternoon nap. The cheeky chap could be seen hiding in the bushes chucking bits at the boxer who - obviously - was pretty enraged by the whole thing! Nick Pickard did not hang about and turned away once he saw what was going on, and even Sam's jungle BFF Marvin did not endorse his actions, telling Nick: "He's got a death wish!" We'd hate to be around when Tony realises it was actually Sam's doing...
Chatting to Josie about his future with Zara
We all know how totally devoted Sam is to his girlfriend Zara, and it was lovely to hear him chat about his future with her in a heartwarming conversation with Josie. After Sam and Josie discussed their careers, talk turned to parenthood and Josie told Sam he'd be "the best dad." Sam said: "Thanks, Jose. It's kind of tough to explain this, a lot of people - you not included - a lot of guys who are like, 'Mate, you need to have kids, you need to have kids,' but my circumstances are different to yours. My girlfriend, and I would never want to take this away from her, is doing so well. I know she doesn't want to give that up. And she shouldn't have to. There will come a time where we'll both be like, 'Yeah, now's the time', but I just don't think it's now." Josie replied: "I had Reg at 33 and I'm so glad I had him at that age as well. I really lived my life. I totally lived it. If anything happened to me tomorrow Sam, I have had a blinder. I've had a real a good time. Until you feel like that, you know, hold out."
Squabbling with Nigel Farage over burnt rice
After Nick's departure from camp, Sam was unwittingly promoted to head chef, with Nigel becoming sous chef. Unfortunately, things didn't get off to a great start as the campmates tucked into burnt rice for breakfast due to a miscommunication between the chefs... Nigel was adamant that he'd asked Sam to watch it (despite viewers at home seeing the truth), and Sam stuck to his guns that it'd had been Nigel's responsibility... Yikes!
Absolutely smashing his spy-themed Bushtucker Trial
We all saw how disappointed Sam was to be shot down for a Bushtucker Trial earlier in the last week of the show, but he was thrilled after being encouraged to undertake a spy-themed challenge by his campmates, hilariously entitled This is No Time To Cry part two, Cry Harder. Cementing his status as the most enthusiastic campmate in I'm A Celeb history, Sam declared the laser beams as "so cool" - and even got hosts Ant and Dec caught up in his excitement, as they got on board with the spy theme, referring to him as Agent Murph throughout the trial. He even thanked them for having him at the trial! He got an incredible six stars out of six.
Seeing Pete in the jungle
Sam had an incredibly heartwarming moment when he was surprised with a one-on-one meet-up with his best friend, Pete Wicks. The pair, who have been close friends since appearing on the sixth series of Celebs Go Dating which aired in 2019, were reunited in a truly wonderful scene. Tears were shed from both sides and there were LOTS of hugs - with Pete telling Sam how proud he is and how much he loves him. It was super sweet!
CELEBRITY CYCLONE!
Sam achieved a literal LIFE GOAL by making it to the semi-final and taking part in the Celebrity Cyclone trial alongside Josie, Tony and Nigel! The quartet absolutely smashed the Cyclone - always a viewer favourite - and won themselves a full quota of stars, resulting in some delicious ribs for their evening meal!
The eating trial
We were all desperate for Sam to take on an eating trial during his time in the jungle. He may have left it til literally the last opportunity, but he finally did it! Viewers up and down the country watched through their hands as Sam choked down various - ahem - delicacies... But it meant that all three finalists got their main meals for camp. What a hero!
WINNER!
Sam WON I'm A Celeb 2023! It was never in any doubt for us, and we're absolutely over the moon for him. He was visibly overwhelmed after hearing the news, but equally thrilled - what a worthy winner!
Sam chats to the Hits Radio team about his win
He may be the King of the Jungle, but Sam didn't forget his roots - and made time in his busy schedule to chat to Fleur East, James and Matt after winning the show. After revealing that he didn't initially react to his win due to being distracted by a comment from Tony, Sam admitted his life flashed before his eyes after THAT moment he slapped the boxing legend to save him from a mosquito... He's a braver man than us!
Sam enjoys a special homecoming celebration!
Sam received a royal welcome when he returned to the Hits Radio studios! Sam was met with confetti, banners and a crown as he made his entrance.
When is Sam Thompson on Hits Radio?
You can normally listen to Sam Thompson on Hits UK on Hits Radio. Every Monday to Thursday from 7pm, Sam catches up with some of the biggest names around. While he’s in the jungle Owen Warner will be looking after Sam’s show.
Now read:
Everything you need to know about I'm A Celeb 2023 ahead of the final
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