JUNGLE BLING
I am in no rush to get married, says King of the Jungle Sam Thompson on life after I’m A Celeb & an unlikely bromance
There’s no doubt that the past decade has been a transformative journey for Sam
WHEN Sam Thompson splashed out on a Cartier ring for his special someone after three weeks in the Australian jungle, you might have thought the recipient would be his girlfriend of five years, Zara McDermott.
But you’d be wrong – the stunning piece of jewellery was for his best mate, Pete Wicks.
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“I bought Pete a Cartier ring, because he’s just done so much for me.
“He came all the way to Australia and I really wanted to give him a gift that will show my…”
Eternal love?
“Yeah!” chuckles Sam, 31. “I’m not joking, though. Coming out for two weeks, being there for me, always being on the phone to my mum and Zara… He was holding the fort for the whole family and support network.
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“You’ve got to be really good friends to do that for somebody.”
Although Zara, 27, was knocked out of the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing more than three weeks before the start of I’m A Celebrity!, it was ex-TOWIE Lothario Pete, 35, who was invited Down Under to support Sam.
Viewers witnessed the intensity of the bromance in the final episode when Sam passionately leapt into Pete’s arms on the bridge shortly after being crowned King of the Jungle.
‘I need Pete more than anybody would ever know’
While their friendship, which began in 2019 on Celebs Go Dating, is undoubtedly strong, viewers were understandably bemused by the obvious Zara-shaped hole in the finale.
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“She’d been voted out of Strictly, but they had to do their Christmas special dance,” explains Sam.
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“It’s so annoying. She was so upset that she couldn’t come. As they had to practise for the final dance, I knew there was no way.”
So after five years with Zara, is Sam planning a return trip to Cartier to snap up a ring to take their romance to the next level?
“I’m so happy being with the person I know I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, I don’t see any sort of rush at all,” he insists.
“We speak about marriage a lot, but there’s no pressure to put a ring on it.”
Since arriving back in the UK, Sam has barely had a chance to catch his breath.
A few hours before we meet, news breaks of his new gig on This Morning, working as a roving reporter.
And it’s clear he can’t wait to get going.
“Oh my god, it’s insane! I can’t believe it’s happening to me. I’m so excited!” he says.
It’s just one of many exciting projects for Sam, who is predicted to bankroll a cool £2million following his I’m A Celebrity! victory, which came after he impressed viewers with his unbridled energy in camp.
Sam’s returned to his Hits Radio show, has just been announced as the co-presenter for the Love Island All Stars podcast, as well as being booked to host the red carpet at this year’s National Television Awards, alongside Pete, who he co-hosts the Staying Relevant podcast with.
They will also embark on a nine-date sellout tour in the UK and Ireland in April.
Sam becomes uncharacteristically serious when asked about speculation that Pete now needs him more than the other way around.
“Complete lie. I need Pete more than anybody would ever know.
“He’s my brother. I couldn’t think of anything worse than doing this industry on my own,” he says.
“I sometimes feel like I’ve got imposter syndrome.
“I keep thinking there’s not a chance that anyone’s going to ever want me, because everything feels like a dream.”
‘I apologised to my dad, as I hadn’t done anything with my education’
Before that dream began 11 years ago with a role on E4’s Made In Chelsea, Sam was working as a bartender with “no idea what I was going to do with my life.”
Back then, with no clue his academic struggles were rooted in undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), he felt awful for wasting his £29,000-a-year private school education at Berkshire’s prestigious Bradfield College, paid for by his self-made property developer parents, Karen and Michael.
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“I didn’t go to university, I didn’t get good grades at school, and I apologised to my dad.
“I didn’t have to – I wanted to, as he’d paid quite a lot of money to send me to a really nice school and I felt really guilty, because I was like: ‘I haven’t done anything with it,’” explains Sam.
“Dad went: ‘Dude, I don’t care. As long as you’re happy. That’s fine.’
“Now I feel f***ing amazing when I take my dad for lunch. He’s done his knee in and I get him a cab from his flat to lunch.
“I’m like: ‘Dad, get anything on the menu.’ He’s done so much for me my whole life, and the fact he’s so grateful for me getting his lunch is the most amazing thing.
“It makes me well up now thinking about it.”
Sam fell into the TV industry after being approached at 19 to join Made In Chelsea, alongside his sister and OG MIC star Louise, 33 – “for the sole reason of getting into night clubs for free and going on dates”.
He initially planned to “have fun” for a couple of years, before quitting to get a “proper job”, until realising there was a lucrative career to be made from being in the public eye.
“About two years in, I can remember seeing doors into an industry I really liked the idea of – radio, podcasting, presenting, hosting, digital marketing, YouTube.
“All the doors were shut, but I saw they were there and I persevered.”
Sam’s popularity with broadcasting commissioners grew with every bit of exposure.
He did Celebs Go Dating, Celebrity Big Brother, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and Celebrity Coach Trip, and in February 2022, landed a show on Hits Radio.
Last year, he joined the panel on Love Island spin-off show Aftersun and fronted the acclaimed Sam Thompson: Is This ADHD?, which documented his journey before and after being diagnosed with autism and ADHD.
“I want to do a lot more stuff on ADHD and neurodiversity in general, because I can’t believe how many people got in touch,” says Sam.
“I’m proud of myself and what I’ve achieved. ADHD is a superpower.”
‘I want kids one day, but right now I need to be selfish’
His diagnosis has proved a positive thing in many ways, specifically in his relationship with Zara.
“We’re stronger now by a mile,” he says.
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“I can sometimes be a little bit overbearing and it’s not fair to expect people to always be running at your capacity the whole time.
“Sometimes I could have been a little bit selfish. Now I know I need to make time for ‘Zara time’.”
Sam and Zara got together in 2019 after she slid into his DMs, and despite a brief split a year later, the fact they’re now in a secure, solid place should be no surprise given the absence of MIC [Zara also appeared in the show, before the pair quit in 2021].
While their relationship now is, to an extent, conducted in the public eye, no longer is every spit and cough fodder for the public’s entertainment.
“We’re not on a TV show now where people are digging around and trying to figure things out that aren’t there,” he says.
“We’re in a different stage of our lives. The older you get, the more normal your relationship becomes.
“Genuinely, we are so boring. For New Year, we were asleep by midnight.
“I took her for dinner, we watched a film and went to bed. It was the best New Year’s Eve we’ve ever had!”
And while he might be the coolest uncle to Louise’s two-year-old son Leo, he and Zara have no immediate plans to create their own tiny Thompsons.
“I see what goes into being a parent.
“My sister and Ryan [Libbey, 33] are unbelievable, but to be an unbelievable parent you have to give everything.
“Right now, I have to still be selfish. Zara has to be selfish, too.
“I really want kids in the future, for sure. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world, but when you have a child, although one chapter begins, one chapter does close – and you don’t get that chapter back.
“I’ve been a late bloomer when it comes to understanding myself, so anything I do will probably be in my mid-to late-30s.”
For now, work is the focus, and on top of everything else, Sam is also the owner of two companies.
“Last March, he co-founded eyewear brand Dinelli, which “sold out of everything” in the first month and, he reports, has made him “a lot of money”.
“He is soon to launch an app, which will be a one-stop-shop providing videographers, photographers and studio spaces, which he plans to turn into a production company.
“I look at Ant and Dec. They’ve got a production company and they make their own stuff.
“I want to make my own shows. I also want to do more This Morning.
“It’s the thing I want to do more than anything else, and I’d love to be on the sofa one day.
“I know I need to prove myself and keep working hard for them to consider me for a presenter role.”
‘Being with Zara, my accent’s gone more Essex – and I love it!’
Sam, who says he’s “not yet” a millionaire in his own right, is quick to squash rumours, previously fanned by Pete, that his parents still give him pocket money and bought him his £2million home in west London.
“Pete’s a complete liar! He still thinks I’ve got an east and a west wing and a butler.
He thinks I’ve got a trust fund that I dip into and that I’ve magicked £2million out my arse!”
There’s no doubt that the past decade has been a transformative journey for Sam.
Even his once-cut-glass accent has had a mockney geezer makeover.
“Yeah, I know! I sound different, don’t I?” concurs Sam, sounding more Essex than ever.
“My girlfriend is from Essex, Pete is from Essex, and I spend most of my time with them. But I like it.
“My accent is dependent on who I’m surrounded by. I sort of flit between the two – and I love it.
“Me and Pete went to Buckingham Palace for a really nice charity event and immediately I went into: ‘Oh, hello. Lovely to meet you. It’s an absolute pleasure.’”
Of course, there’s another man in Sam’s life besides Pete.
Viewers watched a second bromance blossom in the jungle, this time between Sam and boxer Tony Bellew, 41.
Sam recently travelled to Liverpool with Pete to celebrate Tony’s wife Rachael’s 40th.
Zara, who was recovering from a minor medical procedure, stayed behind, but did Pete go along because he was a tiny bit jealous?
“No!” says Sam. “This is what’s so cool. Pete knows Rachael and Tony’s boys nearly as well as I know Tony, because they were hanging out in Australia for two weeks, so she invited him. It’s worked out perfectly.”
Since leaving Australia, Sam has also spent time with This Morning presenter Josie Gibson and EastEnders actress Danielle Harold, but he’s yet to catch up with pal Marvin Humes, who he spent hours with in camp performing JLS songs.
After jungle talk of Sam getting on stage with the boys, is anything planned for when they tour later this year?
“All I’m going to say is that you should be excited,” says Sam, before revealing that he and Pete are trying to get JLS to perform at their London Palladium show.
As our chat ends, Sam stands up to gather his coat and has a question.
“Can I have a hug?” he asks, before leaping in for his trademark head-on-shoulder super-squeeze.
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“Make sure you watch me on This Morning,” he calls before hurrying out the door towards a future that certainly knows no bounds.
- Listen to Sam’s Hits Radio show Monday-Thursday, from 7pm. Staying Relevant is on all podcast providers now.
Either/Or with Sam…
Champagne or a pint?
Definitely a pint of Guinness.
Chelsea or Essex?
Essex! Zara and Pete are both from there.
Early bird or night owl?
Early bird.
See the future or change the past?
Change the past, only because I wouldn’t want to see into the future.
Tony or Pete?
Oh f***. Pete. Tony would tell me to say Pete.
Attend a party or host a party?
Attend. F*** hosting, I hate it. Clearing up is always horrible.
Voice note or phone call?
Voice note, every day of the week.
No company or bad company?
Bad company. I just like company.
Able to fly or able to turn invisible?
Fly. I’d go to Liverpool to see Tony every day.