The fact that Tahir Bilgic left the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! jungle in one piece is really saying something.
In fact, the comedian surprised even himself for his resilience after being thrown into the South African wild to (mostly) fend for himself for 26 days.
And that’s for a good reason, because Tahir has never been camping before.
Yep – our jaws dropped too.
Do you have an I’m A Celeb tip or know one of the contestants? Email us with your tip off at [email protected]
The comedian always looked on the bright side – no matter what he was faced with! (Image: Network Ten)
As he entered the jungle on day one, Tahir’s energy was undeniable – he was excitable, adventurous and clearly keen to try new things, and boy oh boy did he.
Quickly making a name for himself as everyone’s friend, Tahir was camp caretaker for his entire stint in the jungle, sharing chores, food and making strong bonds with his fellow campers.
But that wasn’t the only positive thing to come from his jungle experience.
The 48-year-old also decided to try his hand at cooking, and the result was rather unexpected!
“When they made me head chef there was panic, I thought ‘Oh I can’t do this – I can be sous-chef, but head chef? No thank you!'” He tells Now To Love exclusively.
“But we managed to get through somehow and my food was even complimented!”
He surprised even himself with his determination! (Image: Network Ten)
The talented funny-guy also made an impression on his fellow campers with his frequent violin playing – which was met with mixed reactions.
In one such instance, fellow camper and former Masterchef contestant Justine Schofield went as far as to hide the instrument from Tahir – we couldn’t really blame her, it was while she was trying to sleep.
But she later gave in and gave the violin back to him – because who could say no to his refreshingly cheerful persona, despite the very trying circumstances!
Upon his elimination from the jungle on Wednesday evening’s episode, Tahir said it was “the best thing I’ve ever done, without question”.
And unprecedented personal discoveries aside, it would be safe to say the comedian left the jungle as one very happy camper.
Keep scrolling as we speak to the man himself about his experience in the wild.
Tahir! What an experience you’ve had, can you describe how you feel about it?
It was a very unique experience for me, I’ve never been camping before. I slept in a sleeping bag for the first time and I started a fire for the first time – even cooking marshmallows by the fire – I’d never done it before!
You became quite the cook in there! Is that something you’re looking at doing more of?
[Laughs] I sort of faked my way through it! There’s still a lot to be desired there.
When they made me head chef there was panic, I thought ‘Oh I can’t do this – I can be sues chef, but head chef? No thank you!’
Which camper was the toughest to please when it came to food?
Oh that was interesting – meat would be sent down and some people wanted it well done, like Tash, and then some people wanted it rare, some people wanted medium rare, and some of them didn’t eat meat at all!
I was just like ‘are these people crazy?’, what do they think it is, a proper restaurant?
Then there were people saying ‘Don’t burn the food!’ or ‘Don’t burn the vegies!’ or ‘Please overcook the vegies!’ – the pressure was on! The only way to escape it was to be voted off!
But we managed to get through somehow and my food was even complimented!
We’d have been glad to see the back of the jungle too if we were Tahir! (Image: Network Ten)
What kind of impact did the jungle have on your health?
Well I lost eight kilograms and I would have loved another week to lose two more!
But some people were actually exercising as well – like lifting rocks and doing push ups and doing gym workouts and I’m thinking, why!? I can’t spare one calorie!
Which celebrities were focused on working out in the jungle?
Well Dermott started working out early then realised there wasn’t any point. And Luke was doing a fair bit – but then he came in overweight on purpose so he had a different plan!
Shane did a bit and Katherine did a bit – and Justin of course was always working on crunching the abs.
Out of all the camp mates, who surprised you the most?
I got really close to Luke – and Justine and Natasha and I sort of bonded with when we took over the caretaker side of things.
We spent a lot of time together and had a lot of laughs in that first week and it was really good to see them flourish.
I also really liked meeting Jackie Lambie – I was wary of her to start with but to see a different softer side to her was pretty cool.
What’s next for you now you’re out of the jungle?
Well a lot of people talk about their first meal when they leave the camp, they talk about having steak, chips, coffee and all that sort of stuff… And I had put down – because I’m an idiot – rice and beans.
It was funny, we had a good old laugh but it wasn’t as funny while I was eating it!
I really missed my family and friends too, and I missed performing stand up comedy – I do three to four shows a week on a regular basis, so I’m looking forward to getting back up on stage.
WATCH: Justin Lacko doesn’t recognise THIS new I’m A Celebrity camper and it’s super awkward:
