Luke Jacobz was eliminated from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! last night, leaving camp with Angie Kent. In a double elimination they became the 9th and 10th person sent home from the South African jungle.
Luke, 37, accepted the change to appear on the show in honour of his late father John, who passed away from brain cancer. Luke’s chosen charity was Carrie Bickmore’s ‘Beanies 4 Brain Cancer’ in memory of his dad.
“I was doing it for dad” Luke tells TV WEEK exclusively, revealing this kept him going on those tougher days.
We caught up with the actor, host and now reality TV star to find out all about his time in the jungle.
TV WEEK: How does it feel to be out of the jungle?!
Luke: I’m wonderful! It is great to be out of the jungle although I’ve kept my socks and boots on because I feel weird walking around in anything different. So I’m very happy!
You don’t have to eat rice and beans anymore! How was your first meal on the outside?
When we left the jungle and came down to our special eating area I was served a beautifully fresh burger, it had everything I wanted on it.
Luke says goodbye to the jungle (Image: Network 10).
You’re definitely one of the stars whose weight loss is quite visible, do you know how much you lost overall?
I haven’t looked yet but when we did our last weigh in I think I was at 82 kilos, and that was four or five days ago so I’ve probably dropped down again. I went in there with weight added, I actually spent a few months putting on weight so that I would have a bit of reserve there. I loved seeing how much weight I lost – it was obviously a different day for some people (the weigh in) – but I was very excited to see my loss. I was really excited to see how I dealt with it, because I normally get a bit hangry and snappy, but going in there with the right mindset it was a really good learning curve for me. You know, you can get by on simple things… but I actually have salt with me right now, because I’m never ever going without it again.
You got to take part in a lot of different and challenging trials, was it fun to try your hand at those?
I loved it! I really enjoyed all of my trials, they were all quite different which I thought was really great. I loved being pushed, I came in to the jungle hoping I would have my heart racing for different things and every single time I got called out on a trial it never let me down. I was so happy to be able to experience all of those things. It was so much fun.
You spoke to TV WEEK about your ADHD before going in to the jungle, and how you would need to keep yourself entertained and occupied. How did you go?
With ADHD some people are medicated and some people aren’t, and I’ve lived my whole life un-medicated and I was always conscious of not going too crazy in there just because I get very happy and very excited easily. It was definitely a bit of a mind challenge for me, just to make sure I kept on top of it. I loved it and there were times when I didn’t need to control it and I could just be myself and be really happy. The best thing about it was I didn’t have to pretend to be anyone I’m not in there, I could really just be who I am and I loved the fact that it was very accepted in there and people were just like ‘that’s Luke.’ If someone does have ADD or ADHD it’s not a crime, so I was really proud I got to go in there and be myself.
There was such a mix of people in there and everyone had their own experiences and challenges, do you think that helped you to just be yourselves?
What was really great is that everyone went in there with the same open heart, accepting that we’re not choosing who we go in there with. I think everyone went in with the same attitude of open your minds, open your hearts, talk to people and understand. People were really accepting of each other’s personalities and traits. I loved knowing that going back in to the real world, everyone has a story and don’t jump to conclusions because someone doesn’t fit in to your story. It was great, everyone was wonderful.
Luke loved being challenged on the show (Image: Network 10).
Was there anyone in particular you really got along with? Any friends for life?
Yeah I think Yvie in particular, and Tahir and I really got along super well. I was devastated when Tahir left he was just my buddy and we had a really good connection with some real down to earth stuff. Like with kids, and you know him being married and having family life, like he really taught me that the bigger things in life are all the small things. I literally have left the jungle and I said to my fiancée last night ‘I want a family now let’s start.’ I don’t want to wait any longer, you know wedding plans have already begun and I can’t wait to be in a position like Tahir he is just so happy to be a dad. I think that’s my next chapter in my life and I can’t wait.
There’s a lot of downtime in the jungle and it’s so nice to hear you spent that time reflecting on your life and what’s next…
Absolutely! It was always a thing for me of ‘Am I ready?’ and I kind of didn’t really know. Just being in there and thinking about everything I was like what am I waiting for? I’m really looking forward to doing that, I can’t wait to plan our wedding to be honest! I’m really excited.
Luke and Justin Lacko take part in one of the trials (Image: Network 10).
You decided to go on the show to honour your late father, and to raise awareness for brain cancer research for Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer. Did your personal connection keep you going on those tougher days?
Yeah having the reason I was in there as a backing, every day I kind of woke up and was like ‘where am I? I’m in the jungle because I’m doing this for the charity’. It made every day so much easier because I was doing it for Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer, I was doing it for dad, so having that motivation there… I knew in my bones that’s why I was there.
Honestly though, I mean I don’t know if it came across on TV, but I had the best time on that show! I didn’t find it daunting, there were things in there that were difficult but you know what if everyday life was so easy, we would be so boring. I love getting a challenge, I try and challenge myself every day and in there I had a crew of about 400 challenging me every day. I do know that the next week or so there will be a little bit of withdrawal because it’s been such a great experience and I’m worried I’ll go to the store and be like ‘oh well I can just eat anything’ and I really hope I have the appreciation for the little things for a lot longer and yeah, I can’t stop telling the people I’m close to now that I love them. I’ve become a bit more of a soft heart.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here grand finale airs Sunday, 7.30pm, on 10.
