Yahoo News Who is Sam Thompson? Made in Chelsea star joins I'm A Celebrity
From his romance with Zara McDermott to everything Sam Thompson has said about I'm A Celebrity
Sam Thompson is starring on this year's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here and we can't wait to see how he gets on.
In recent months, the Made In Chelsea star has been supporting his girlfriend Zara McDermott while she was on Strictly Come Dancing. Now the former Love Island bombshell will be at home cheering him on for I'm A Celeb in Oz.
He said: "My girlfriend is really happy for me, too. She is proud. We haven’t chatted too much about it in the run up as she has been doing Strictly and I haven’t wanted to make it about me."
Without his girlfriend and home Chelsea comforts, how will Thompson get on in the jungle?
The TV personality will join the likes of Jamie Lynn Spears, the baby sister of Britney Spears, as well as controversial politician Nigel Farage and more.
We take a look at his life in the spotlight so far...
Sam Thompson's romance with Zara McDermott
Thompson and McDermott have been loved-up for a little more than four years.
They have been living at their lovely home in Chelsea, in London which is next door to his sister Louise and her partner Ryan Libbey.
Thompson and McDermott started dating in 2019 after the documentary maker made the first move. They were Instagram official by June as they begun to get swept up in the fever of love.
He told OK! magazine: "She slid into my DMs. It was great and I’m glad she did."
With their relationship moving fast, McDermott joined Thompson on Made In Chelsea in series 18 which aired in October 2019.
But their romance hasn't always been an easy ride.
Why did Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott split up?
Thompson and McDermott split up briefly in September 2020 over a cheating scandal.
Sadly the Made In Chelsea star discovered his love had cheated on him the year before in 2019 when she appeared on The X Factor: Celebrity.
Shortly after the news broke, the TV starlet wrote an open letter to her love apologising for cheating as she said it was a "huge mistake".
At the time in October 2020, she wrote: "I just wanted to address the recent speculation in the media. A huge mistake I made a year ago has recently come to light and I want to face this head on.
"I don't condone being unfaithful and I made a huge mistake at a time in my life where I was hugely selfish and immature.
"I believe I have learnt so much from my mistake. I want to apologise to my Sam for everything I have put him through, for the pain, the embarrassment, the anger and the hurt."
However, they decided to give their love another go and in December Thompson revealed why he had taken his girlfriend back.
He told the MailOnline: "I believe in forgiveness. I understand the context – and I think in any walk of life you can't move forward unless you forgive.
"Forgiveness allows you to heal. You can only heal when you forgive the other person and get over that. I would definitely say no matter what you should always try to forgive and you'll feel better in yourself – it's f***ing easier said than done but you've got to strive for that.
"The people I care about caring about me will know we're all human. We are all human and you can't grow and evolve and be a better person without making mistakes along the way. For that to be shown on TV, it almost humanises you and makes you more relatable."
The emotional fallout of the cheating scandal and how they moved on from it played out on reality TV series Made In Chelsea.
What has Sam Thompson said about I'm A Celebrity?
A big fan of the show, the reality star couldn't say no to I'm A Celeb but he admitted he didn't last a night sleeping outside because it was too cold.
"I tried to go camping recently but I had to go home at 10pm," he said.
"I was too cold! But I am so excited about taking part in I’m A Celebrity, it still feels like a dream. I feel like a competition winner taking part. It was an absolute resounding ‘yes’ when I got approached. In fact, they didn’t even need to ask! I am a huge fan of the show.
"Ant and Dec are my idols too and it’s going to be really surreal meeting them."
Leaving behind his luxury comforts in Chelsea, the TV personality confessed he's not sure how he will fare with the creepy crawlies and other grisly Bushtucker trials.
Sam added: "I don’t know anyone who likes spiders. The smaller they are, the worse it is and I am a bit of a screecher. I am not a creepy crawly guy either.
"And I hate people/ things touching my neck. Any trial involving things all over me will be pretty rank!"
But he's not afraid of getting stuck into the camp chores.
He said: "If they want me to cook, I will put my hand up, if they want me to clean, I will scrub those pans. You can’t be bored in there, it’s the jungle. I am never going to do this again, and so I want to be ‘in the moment’ and enjoy everything. When I am 80-years-old, I want to be able to tell my grandkids all about it."
TV career history
Not a stranger to reality TV, Thompson first shot to fame when he appeared on Made In Chelsea in 2013.
Cementing his status as a reality star, the TV personality also became one of the housemates on Celebrity Big Brother 20 in 2017.
He has made numerous appearances on Celebs Go Dating and also competed on Celebrity Coach Trip.
Alongside his best friend Pete Wicks, he came second on The Celebrity Circle.
Showbiz pals
Pete Wicks is Thompson's best friend and he's admitted he's going to miss him while he's on the ITV jungle show.
The famous best friends have their podcast Staying Relevant which is a cheeky insight into what it takes to stay in the spotlight.
Earlier this year, Thompson spoke about their long-lasting friendship.
He told OK! magazine: "Yin and Yang over here – I think that’s why we work so well together. I genuinely do balance Pete out. There are times when I’ll call him and just be like, “How are you?”
"And he says, “Don’t do this,” but I won’t let him hang up until he tells me how he is. And there’s other things where he teaches me how to be a bit more “Pete”. So I do think we help each other mentally."
I'm A Celebrity returns to our screens on ITV at 9pm on 19 November
