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Harry Redknapp: Emily Atack didn't have a chance with Jamie - until she put her make-up on

Katie Archer
·Contributor


I’m a Celebrity viewers have spent the last few weeks cheering on jungle runner-up Emily Atack as she learned to love her freckles – but now series winner Harry Redknapp has well and truly rained on that parade.

Many of Atack’s Bush Telegraph scenes featured emotional outpourings about how she’d come to accept herself as she was, without glamorous hair, clothes and make-up, and how empowering it had been.

But King of the Jungle Redknapp said she “didn’t have a prayer” with his son Jamie Redknapp until she put her make-up back on.

Fans had seen a funny exchange between the pair during the show where she put herself forward as a romantic replacement for Jamie’s ex-wife Louise, and Redknapp told her at the time he thought she’d make a good daughter-in-law.


But in an interview with Good Morning Britain, he said: “I’ll be honest, when I saw her in the jungle I thought no chance, but I’ve seen her today when she’s scrubbed up and she looks alright, I’m telling you, she looks very useful.

“But when I saw her in the jungle I thought no, you ain’t got a prayer.”

Effectively undoing a month’s worth of work Atack had done on her self image.

He said he hadn’t even recognised her once she got out of the jungle garb: “She looked fantastic, today when I saw her I said, ‘who are you?’ She said, ‘I was in the jungle with you.’ I said, ‘I haven’t seen you before.'”

Viewers weren’t too impressed by the comments.

Redknapp also spoke of his own appearance, and laughed off his new sex symbol status amongst some of his fans: “I don’t think so. If they do think that they need to go to SpecSavers.”

Atack was later a guest on Lorraine, where she seemed to take it all in good humour.

On her chances with Jamie, she said: “I’m sure if he’d seen me in action over the last few weeks he wouldn’t be up for it, but I’ve got my make-up on now, so he might be.

“We’re all seeing each other for the first time in actual clothes, and we don’t smell like cockroaches and fire anymore, and everybody’s so beautiful and smells amazing.”

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