Until Kris Smith starred on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! he probably would have been referred to as “Dannii Minogue’s ex” or “Myer model.”
But after popping up on our televisions every night for the past month, we’ve gotten to know the man behind one of the country’s most famous singers – and it turns out there’s a lot more to him than just a good-looking runway star.
We’ve gotten to know the real Kris Smith and now we can add doting dad, caring mate and all-round legend to the list.
WATCH: Kris reveals why he had to leave Dannii. Post continues after the video
Before his eviction, the 38-year-old spoke candidly about the breakdown of his relationship with Dannii and walking out on their romance when his son Ethan was just a baby.
“It got to a point where it wasn’t working for anyone. We didn’t wanna get in silly bickering arguments in front of Ethan. So the hardest thing I’ve had to do was leave. [Ethan] was very young but I didn’t ever wanna see him in an environment where it’s a little bit bitter or argumentative.”
“All I ever wanted in life was to settle down with one woman and have kids with one woman. It absolutely ripped my heart out but it was for the best,” a teary Kris explained.
Earlier in the season, Kris welled up again when he was surprised with a letter from his little boy.
And it’s this sensitive side of the star that has won him a legion of new fans.
Now To Love caught up with the man from Manchester to talk about his time on the show and his exciting reunion with the most important person in his life – his six-year-old son Ethan.
How are you feeling, are you happy to be out?
I’m absolutely dynamite! Look, I was pretty sad to go on behalf of the charity I was representing. I wanted to raise as much awareness and money as I possibly could for White Ribbon.
But from a personal view, I’m pretty glad to be out there. I’m one of those people, I’m all or nothing. If I’m not going to win it, get me out straight away. I’ve no time for second or third place – nobody remembers them.
The emotions built up and everything was up against you, it made you sit there and think “Why am I doing this?” But in hindsight once I’ve come out now and I can sit back and reflect on it, with my glass of red wine, it was actually a really, really good thing to do.
You must be so stoked to see Ethan, how excited are for you to be reunited with him?
It’s going to be amazing! I cannot wait to get down there and see him. The little fella has been on my mind all day, everyday.
The hardest part was not being able to speak to him. I can’t just pick up my phone and FaceTime him or send him a video. We’re out of touch to the outside world. That was really difficult.
Have you FaceTimed him now you’re out?
I tried! I really tried but he’s in the air flying at the minute. He’s a very popular young boy but I’ll catch him as soon as I can.
Kris fast became one of the most popular camp mates.
I think we all fell in love with you every time you spoke about your son – is that why you went on the show, to show Australia who you really are?
Yeah! I wanted to show people I’m more than the guy who talks about fashion at the races and there’s a bit more to my personality than that.
I feel like in some roles I’ve been isolated from showing that. I just wanted to go on there and showcase that I have a sense of humour, I have a personality, and in certain situations I’ll stand up for myself and what I believe in.
I can walk away with my head high. I didn’t lie about who I am, I didn’t try and be somebody else and I’m very happy about that.
We also saw you open up about your split with Dannii but it seems like you guys are in a really good place now?
We are, absolutely! We’ve got a beautiful boy together and I’m forever thankful to her for that.
And for the reason I’m in Australia doing what I’m doing – it wouldn’t have happened without Dannii. She’s an incredible woman and she has been, and will be, a large part of my life. We share an incredible son together. I’ve got nothing but praise for that woman – she’s incredible!
What about your on-off girlfriend, Maddy King. You mentioned in the jungle you two were chatting through things and it was a bit complicated. Did your time on the show give you some clarity?
Yeah, I got a lot of clarity while I was in there. I’ve had a lot of issues that have been dominating my life for a long, long time.
People don’t believe this when I tell them, but I get insecure about a lot of things. I had no self-belief, I had no self-confidence. I would always brush those issues under the carpet and occupy my time somewhere else.
But five weeks living inside your own head there’s no real escaping it. I’ve addressed those problems and addressed the issues. I’ve started to work on those problems that have probably ruined my life for a long, long time and ruined a lot of relationships. I’m nowhere near done but I’m happy and it’s an incredible start to the transformation.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ll take away from the whole experience will be?
I’ve learnt patience. I’m a go-getter – if I want something, I go out and get it. I couldn’t do that in there. I had to sit and relax and that’s been good because I faced the demons that have overtook my life for so long.
I’ve shown myself that I’m resilient enough to handle anything.
The model wasn’t afraid to give some of the more hairy challenges a red-hot go.
The shrinking man: The model (L) when he first entered the show, compared to now.
Both before and after versions of you are amazing but you’ve lost seven kilos…
I had two game plans before I went in. I thought, I can get my body down and be lean when I go in. But then the lack of food and nutrition is just going to eat away at the muscle mass.
Then I thought, alternatively I can have four great months from the racing carnival onwards where if I want carrot cake, I’m going to eat it. If I want beer, I’m going to drink it. If I want to eat that burger, I’m going to eat that burger! So that sounded more appealing to me.
I did train throughout the whole thing so the muscle mass was still under there, I just had more body fat for the lack of nutrition to eat away at before it got to the muscle mass. It was four great months but I’m not in any rush to do it again but it worked a treat.
Any surprising new mates you made?
I’d never of Nazeem Hussain before and he’s an incredible young man. He’s the life and soul of the camp. He’s a lovely, lovely young man and I can’t wait to watch him [perform stand-up comedy].
Casey Donovan, I knew was a legend. Steve Price – I’ve seen sides to him I didn’t know existed. And I met Dane Swan for the first time and he’s a cracking bloke.
Tziporah and Kris’ fall-out became one of the most talked-about moments of the season.
You’re probably sick of talking about this but you famously clashed with Tziporah, how upsetting were her claims about you?
They’re very upsetting and real, offensive words. Words that you can’t take back. And even an apology wouldn’t smooth it over. And guess what? The apology never came. I didn’t expect it, I gave her a chance to apologise and she chose not to.
The only thing to do was ignore her. Excuse the language but I don’t put up with that b——- in my life. Never have, never will. And I’m not about to start for you or a TV show. I’m not being called those things when it’s definitely not who I am.
It’s almost like she wanted to trigger arguments just to make good TV. She tried with Tom Arnold, she tried with Steve Price – lost those ones. Tried with me – lost that one. Then she went into a shell and laid in her bed and covered herself up after all three failures.
I don’t know why she would say those things but 20 minutes after it happened, she walked past me outside the toilets and said “have we still got bad blood Smithy?” with a smile on her face. Are you serious? We will always have bad blood. When you say those words to someone, you can’t take them back. When she called me racist and anti-semitic, I had to bite my tongue and walk off. If I unleash on you now, I’m not going to stop.
Who will you be keeping in touch with
I want to help Casey achieve her goal and lose some weight, if she still wants that on the outside world. I hope she does. I’ll keep in touch with Pricey, Ash and Nazeem. Tegan I know anyway. It will be good!
Who would you like to see win the show?
I do want to see Casey win it, I really do. I think she’s had a lot of turmoil in her life thus far and she’s 28 years old and she’s been through so much. It was beautiful how open she was about her past but she’s still got this big, bright smile on her face. Nothing gets her down.
What’s the first thing you’ll do when you get home?
I’m going to sit on my couch, put my feet up, then I’m going to whack the telly on and then I’m going to catch up on a bit of NRL before I take myself off to my much-missed gym.
