Oti Mabuse was the ninth campmate to be voted out of the jungle on Saturday evening as she narrowly missed out on a spot in the final
Oti Mabuse, the Dancing On Ice judge, was greeted with cheers and tears as she rejoined her former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! campmates after narrowly missing out on being a finalist for the 2024 season. The 34 year old was the ninth star to be voted out of the jungle, leaving McFly’s Danny Jones, The Communards’s Reverend Richard Coles and Coleen Rooney, to battle for the crown.
After an impressive 19 days in Camp, Oti looked relieved to be back in civilisation as she arrived at the JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort and Spa to the sound of huge cheers. The mum-of-one beamed as she met a wall of supporters after exiting her taxi – with Love Island star Maura Higgins the first to throw her arms around her as the other past contestants also swarmed the dancer to place kisses on her head.
Radio host Dean McCullough whispered a greeting into her ear and boxer Barry McGuigan bowed down to her as she joined the group. As the cheers and applause continued to ring throughout the hotel lobby, podcaster GK Barry and Loose Women star Jane Moore also greeted her – while Coronation Street’s Alan Halsall also hugged the star, reports the Mirror.
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However, it was Radio 1 DJ Melvin Odoom who had the most heartfelt reunion with Oti. The pair shared a lively hug after their bonding experience in the jungle, while other friends and family watched on as the small group of celebrities cheered. Oti then began to cry, wiping away her tears. The pair had previously described each other as being ‘like family’ on the show, with Oti supporting Melvin when he felt like giving up.
Maura started chanting Oti’s name, and the applause and cheering continued until a show executive stepped in to pull the dancer away from the crowd. As Oti exited the entrance, Maura seemed to wipe away tears as the group returned to their conversations. Notably missing was N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos, who has reportedly returned to the UK after finding her time in the jungle overwhelming.
After leaving the series earlier in the week, the Young singer mysteriously removed all social media posts about her time on I’m A Celeb that had been posted by her team while she was competing on the show. Eyebrows were raised when some fans noticed Tulisa followed all of her fellow contestants except boxing legend Barry on Instagram.
Tulisa has provided clarity on her post-jungle experience in a recent online statement, where she explained: “I’m just doing a little video to clear a couple things up. Just so you know, when I came out of the jungle, I felt fine first of all and then that evening my friends went to bed. I was on my Instagram trying to have a nice little scroll at some funny stuff. I was getting a lot of attention, a lot of bombarding in all the most positive way. But because it’s been a while for me I can get overwhelmed quite easily.
“And I just started to feel overwhelmed. I thought do you know what, I really just need to take a bit of time for me and just chill. This is all feeling just a little bit much at the moment. I’m just going to archive all my stuff to do with the jungle. Then when the time is right and I’ve had a little time to process I’m going to make my own reels of all my best bits I really like.”
