I'm A Celebrity: Joe Swash grateful to show for giving him his family

Joe Swash has said he if it wasn't for I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! he would not have his family.

The former EastEnders star – who became the seventh contestant to leave I'm A Celebrity South Africa – met his wife Stacey Solomon through the jungle reality show and said being in the camp made him miss his wife and children even more than he expected.

Swash said: "Being in the camp, it always brings up memories for me of Stacey. If it wasn’t for the show, I would never have my family. My family were always in the front of my mind. I found that really difficult. A lot harder than I thought I would."

Read more: Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash: Their love story from I'm A Celeb to baby number three

He added: "I think I found it tougher ultimately because of being away from the kids for so long. I missed my family so much. We had our phones taken away and I’ve never not had communication with them before. My kids are young and I knew they wouldn’t really understand where I was and would be upset. It really played on me."

The 41-year-old TV presenter first met Solomon in 2010 when she won ITV's I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, which the soap star had won in 2008.

When they worked together on spin-off show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! NOW! in 2016 they entered into a romantic relationship.

The couple are now co-parents to Swash's son Harry, 15, Solomon's sons Zachary, 15, and Leighton, 11, from two previous relationships, as well as three-year-old son Rex, 21-month-old daughter Rosie and three-month-old daughter Belle.

And despite missing his family, Swash is proud to have returned to the show featuring favourite past contestants.

He said: "The jungle means so much to me. As in, I worked on it for over a decade, I met my wife on there, I’ve now had children. It was so nice to go back in there. It all sort of came back to me how much the show has done for me. It was lovely. It was really nice to go back and sort of say thank you. That was a big part of returning for me.

"Also, I was honoured to be one of the few that got to go back to be one of the legends. It was such a nice experience and something me and Stacey can show our kids and let them know, it all started from the jungle."

Former royal butler Paul Burrell, Countdown's Carol Vorderman, Diversity dancer Jordan Banjo, Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan, Olympic athlete Fatima Whitbread, retired cricketer Phil Tufnell, Hear'Say singer Myleene Klass and EastEnders star Dean Gaffney remain in the camp to compete for the title of I'm A Celebrity Legend.

Read more: I'm A Celebrity: Shaun Ryder says Paul Burrell is faking it

I'm A Celebrity... South Africa continues on ITV at 9pm.

Watch: Joe Swash and Stacey Solomon married in the garden of their home Pickle Cottage