James Haskell has rubbished claims that there was “tension” in the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle.
The former rugby star, 34, became the fourth person to be voted off the show during Tuesday night's episode.
While this year's stars generally got on well, one episode saw tempers rise as they debated the answer to a dingo dollars challenge question.
Appearing via video link on Wednesday’s instalment of This Morning, James set the record straight in a chat with Phillp Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
Speaking alongside his wife Chloe Madeley, he said: “When you’re in the jungle I think you’ve got to appreciate you’ve got 12 people from different walks of life, 12 people who have different standards and how they want to operate.
“Obviously, I went into that jungle with one idea and one idea only, which was to have fun and to challenge myself.
“I wasn’t aware before I went in that there was a King and Queen of the jungle, I didn’t know about that competitive element."
He added: “And the one thing I didn’t want to do was, I am a big guy - 6 foot 3 inches, 19 odd stone - I didn’t want to ever like try to take a leader role on, I didn’t want to do that and I wanted everyone to have an equal say and opportunity, but I’ve been around team sports my entire life and sometimes debating stuff you can’t debate is slightly frustrating. Sometimes you have to have a decision, sometimes you have to move forward…”
He insisted: “I always try to do what’s best for everybody. I ended up taking on a leader role, not intentionally but sometimes you’ve got to make tough decisions… It was absolutely nothing and I just think it’s a shame that it came across as anything else.”
While James was still in the jungle, his wife Chloe defended him against claims that he is a bully.
Speaking on Lorraine on Monday, she explained: “I think he just had a really grumpy day and I think when you’re sleep deprived and food deprived and you’re surrounded by people you aren’t necessarily friends with on the outside world, if you have a bad day, if you have a moody day you do kind of snap a bit."
“But I think the ‘b’ word is a little bit intense. I personally watched it and I just wanted to get in there and give him a hug and some food.”
I'm A Celebrity evictions will happen every night until the grand final on Sunday.
This Morning airs on weekdays at 10:30am on ITV.
