Tonight's I'm A Celebrity… South Africa saw Joe Swash eliminated from the show after he went head-to-head with retired cricketer Phil Tufnell in the latest survival trial.
The ex-EastEnders star, 41, had a short journey in the jungle this time around, 15 years after he was crowned King of the Jungle in the eighth series of I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
This time around was also more emotional for the TV star, having since married fellow jungle champ Stacey Solomon, with whom he shares three children.
In his exit interview, Joe shared that he struggled being away from his family, as he said: "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. And being in the camp, it always brings up memories for me of Stacey."
He continued: "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. But again I was really lucky as the people in camp kept my spirits high."
Elsewhere in the interview, Joe reflected on his time returning to the jungle, adding: "I found it amazing. It was such an amazing group of people that made me and Dean [Gaffney] feel immediately welcome. I don’t think I’ve laughed as much for years.
"Honestly, my ribs were so sore from laughing. It was quite an overwhelming experience as well because 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."
I'm A Celebrity…South Africa continues tonight at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX, catch up on the full series on ITVX.
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