Frankie Dettori says starring on I'm A Celebrity could ruin his career
Frankie Dettori has admitted he could get injured horsing around in camp and ruin the start of his racing career in the US - but insists you have to live in the moment.
The charismatic jockey, 52, was supposed to retire earlier this month and signed up for I'm A Celebrity at the end of Britain's flat season, only to then agree a deal to keep riding and move to America in 2024. Asked about the prospect of a Bush Tucker trial hurting him or three weeks in the jungle leaving him jaded, he said: "I ride horses every day, you know, you can't think like that. I can walk across the road and get run over by a bicycle, so it is what it is. You know, I believe you’ve got to live in the moment.
"When I get out, of course, I'll have the other plans, but that's after the show. I’m not gonna start thinking like that, I want to go out there with a clear mind, clean canvas and take it on.
Frankie Dettori says I'm A Celebrity appearance could ruin his career in racing (James Gourley/REX/Shutterstock)
Frankie opened up to the Mirror's Mark Jefferies before heading into the camp (Tim Merry/Mirror Express)"I don't know what to expect. You can't replicate what's on the show, you're not gonna sleep with rats or snakes or spiders, you know, you're not gonna recreate that at home.
"So I don't know what to expect, obviously, if you asked me and there are horses in there that would be a different story."
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Frankie, 52, will also be an unlikely ally to Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage as they once shared the same manager and had meetings together. Frankie said he will use his friendship with Nigel to try to bond with the rest of camp after joining up late, along with 12th contestant Tony Bellew.
Frankie said: "Myself and Nigel shared a manager at the time and we had lunch once with a racehorse owner, a very posh lunch. It was very amusing and yeah, we got on really well already.
He's a bigger than life character. And yeah, I mean honestly I've seen the people in the camp and he is the only one that I know really.
"Obviously to see a familiar face like Nigel it makes me feel a little bit more at ease. I’m a late one in so I have a lot of questions to ask. I guess he'd be the first person I can talk to because I could actually know him, I can ask him things now about what’s been going on."
Frankie promised "at least one" flying dismount on the show, his famous celebration when winning a big race, like the 287 Group 1 victories he has managed in an incredible career.
But asked if he would be winning the show and could be crowned king of the jungle, he said: "It's a very hard question to answer because what do you have to do to win? I don't understand that. I mean my philosophy is go down there, be myself, try to win tasks to feed the camp and to keep as a unit and that's it.
"So what do you need to do to win? Is it popularity? Or is it because you're in the trials or because you’re argumentative, I really don't know. It's not like a race, it's a lifetime experience."
Frankie's friend Farage is earning a reported £1.5million on the show and he will no doubt be picking up a six figure sum himself for agreeing to head into the jungle, being a big name sports star.
But asked what he would do with the money earned from going on the show, he grinned and said: "When you have five children, all the fun is taken out of it! I’m sure they'll want their slice. I got the same message from everyone: dad don’t be embarrassing. I said I can't promise that.
"But I'll be honest here, it's not about the money, I was doing it, you know.. I’ve been asked so many times to do it.
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"At the moment in my career in racing, I don't think I can get any higher or bigger so to be opportunity to say right you know if I let this opportunity go this time then perhaps when I'm retired and a nobody, then I might not get another chance."
Unlike most contestants, a rice and beans diet will not hurt Frankie who has been on a calorie controlled diet throughout his racing career which spans over three decades. Once out he will again need to make the correct weight to ride in America in his comeback race on Boxing Day.
Frankie said: "Listen, I spent 35 years dieting. So I've been obviously looking at the cast, I'll probably be the smallest one in there so I’ll probably be the one that’s going to suffer the least. But it’ll probably give me more incentive to get stars. There is no way you can prepare for it to be honest with you. I'm very open-minded, very positive, and I'm ready to try everything.
"I'll tell you, when I get out of there, which ones were the scariest and which one was the worst trial. But at the moment, I think all the trials are scary and all the things are disgusting.
"I really don't know what to expect, you know, and I'm looking forward to it and wish me luck. If I eat kangaroo balls or anus don't tell anyone!"
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