EXCLUSIVE: How I’m a Celebrity “healed” Matt Zukowski and changed his life

Matt Zukowski was the third celebrity to leave the jungle on Wednesday, February 4.

It was the second time he was put at risk after he had to fight for his place against Rachel Hunter during the first elimination.

Sadly, he lost out to Dyson Heppell and Luke Bateman in the Elephant’s Graveyard challenge, sealing his fate.

Speaking exclusively to New Idea, he said it was an “honour” to lose the AFL and NRL legends.

Growing up, he watched the former Essendon captain play.

“I mean, I’ve watched him on the footy field a countless amount of times at live games and then to think that he’s going to, you know, eliminate me,” Matt told us, revealing he’s still close with them both.

Even though he was the second person to be eliminated, he was “proud” of his progress on the show, especially when he confronted his fear of heights.

“When I had to do that final jump, my body just froze,” he said.

“And I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t. I knew I was safe, cause I’d already fallen. And I felt the fall, and I think my body was like, ‘He doesn’t want to do this’… But I definitely tackled it. I got all the stars except for that final one, which I’m proud of my effort.”

He was also open about his high profile split from Tammy Hembrow and his infertility struggles. When he got the call for the show, he said it came at the perfect time.

“Honestly, I came out like completely healed. It was like a weight of being lifted off my shoulder,” he said.

As for who he thinks will win? He doesn’t have a favourite to take it out.

“I’m not going to lie. They’re all family to me, and I I honestly hope any of them do,” the Love Island Australia star said.

“Honestly, at the end of the day, whoever wins, that’s just the title, the rest of them I believe have gone through such a great journey in there, and yeah, nothing but love for them.”

Rachel Hunter was the first celebrity to be eliminated from the jungle on Sunday, February 1.

She was up against Matt Zukowski in a dreaded battle at the Elephant’s Graveyard to decide who would go home after their campmates put them up for elimination.

However, the ex-wife of Rod Stewart ultimately lost out and was sent packing, ending her time in the South African jungle.

Viewers had been desperate to save her and insisted she never would have gone home if there had been a public vote.

“There’s no way Rachel would have been in the bottom 3 if the public got a chance to vote. She’d better not go,” one fan raged online.

Responding to her shock exit, Rachel told New Idea that she had no hard feelings about her “short and sweet” stint in the jungle, but was surprised to have been nominated by her campmates.

“Everyone’s going on peace, love and happiness, and everyone is doing great, and then it comes to this point,” she said.

“Obviously, it was different this year because there wasn’t any public vote, it was against your teammates – and for whatever reason, I was chosen, whether it was an alliance situation, because there were closer relationships that were forming.

“All of us got on […], but we’re all competitive, we all want to win, but at the same time, there are these beautiful relationships forming. So when I was chosen, immediately your hackles go up because you’re like, ‘Why was I chosen? Why did you choose me?’

“[I] could have been the strongest candidate, could have been the weakest candidate, whatever way it went.”

She revealed she has been asked to do both the Australian and international versions of I’m A Celebrity before, but agreed to go on this year because she felt it was the right time, having not done any TV projects in a while.

Rachel also spoke about the deep and honest conversations they had in the jungle, admitting she didn’t have any game plan going into the jungle, but simply wanted to enjoy the experience.

“I didn’t really… did I open up that much? To me, it was like things that have been said a thousand times over because I’ve talked about this stuff before,” she said.

“It wasn’t my objective to go in there and think I want people to feel sorry for me or feel inspired in any way, it was just like let’s see what comes out.”

She spoke about how people might have had “preconceptions” of one another before they entered the jungle, admitting she knew nothing of Cyrell Paule before meeting her, having never watched Married At First Sight.

“To me, I just knew Cyrell from in there, and I just adore her,” she gushed.

“She is who she is, and she was in the elephant’s graveyard for two days, but the moment she came into camp and had food there, she was so gracious, she wasn’t just like ‘I haven’t eaten yet’. She’s as honest as they come; she says how she feels, but she’s very sensitive, too.

“So all these preconceived ideas that people had of people will hopefully dissolve, and people get to see another side.”

As for herself, Rachel spent years working as a supermodel before making a major career change to host yoga retreats, something she said she was inspired to do after her mother’s death.

She said, “When my mother died, it’s a pivotal moment we all experience at some time, death, and really being faced with that and making a pivotal change of changing grief into this space of inspiration, and really going through who you are and where you want to be in your life, that’s the most recent thing that has changed my life.”

Deni Hines struggled with jungle life from day one, but stuck it out for nearly a week before she quit on January 27, citing her difficulty to use the bathroom as the reason.

After her exit, it was claimed that her perseverance was down to a secret contract rule that kept her in the jungle for longer.

“Apparently, in the contract… every celebrity has to last at least 72 hours if they want to receive their full pay, so that’s kind of why Deni lasted this long,” Joshua Fox claimed on the MAFS Funny podcast.

“What I’m told is Deni wanted to quit [on] day one. She’s never watched I’m A Celebrity, she didn’t really know what she was getting herself into, and she didn’t particularly like anybody in the camp.”

However, Deni claimed that her clashes with campmates had nothing to do with why she quit the show, citing another reason for her departure.

“I’ve got an announcement to make,” she told her co-stars around the campfire on January 27.

“It’s got nothing to do with you all. I love all of you dearly, but I have decided to go home. I haven’t been able to go to the toilet for six days, I don’t feel good about that.

“I would rather do a poo in the jungle, but, unfortunately, we are in a national park, so I can’t, and I refuse to sit in that long drop.”

Her decision to quit was a far cry from her comments before the show aired, when she told us that she believed she would be crowned the Queen of the Jungle and would never quit the show.

“I’ve done yoga for years, I’m not afraid of heights or confined spaces – I actually want to jump out of a plane – and I’m used to being on the road touring, so I can handle sleeping in strange places,” she told New Idea at the time.

“I think I’m strong enough to become Queen of the Jungle. A 55-year-old woman with dreadlocks needs to win!”

“I also hate the word ‘celebrity’. I’m not a celebrity,” she continued. “I have a talent, so there is absolutely no way you’ll ever hear me say the words ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here!’ I’m too stubborn.”

Despite going back on her vow, she told New Idea after her exit that she would have won if not for her toilet woes, and denied that her clash with Cyrell Paule prompted her to leave.

“I’m in my 50s, there was not one person in that camp who could make me leave, not one,” she insisted.

“Had I been able to s***, I would still be in the jungle, and I probably would’ve won! I listen to my body, and I did everything I could to try and s*** so I wouldn’t have to leave.”