Former England star Jamie Redknapp discusses his father Harry’s 2018 I’m A Celebrity victory and opens up about his own injury-prone Premier League career that led to a knee replacement at 49
Harry didn’t seem to know much about I’m a Celeb before he went into the jungle(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Former football manager Harry Redknapp was crowned ‘King of the Jungle’ at the conclusion of the 2018 series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! However, according to his son, former England star Jamie Redknapp, Harry entered the programme with completely the wrong mindset.
Jamie told the AFC Bournemouth podcast how he had spotted an early report of his father’s involvement in the popular show in the Mirror, and had to deliver some home truths about how I’m A Celeb actually operates: “It was in the paper and I went, ‘Dad, have you seen this story in the The Mirror that says you’re going into the jungle?’
“He went ‘Yeah, I am.’ I said, ‘Do you know what you got to do?’ and he went, “Yeah, it’ll be all right. There’ll be loads of food there. It’ll all be around the back. You can get a bacon sandwich.’
“I went, ‘No, it doesn’t work like that, Dad’ … but the thing is, I think because of that naivety made it so much easier for him.”
Harry, who had stepped down from football management the previous year, went on to claim victory in the series and returned as one of the ‘All Star’ contestants who came back this year for I’m a Celebrity… South Africa.
Jamie gave his dad Harry some words of warning (Image: Getty Images)
Jamie revealed that his father has never been particularly bothered about food, and would frequently miss meals at home. He believes Harry wouldn’t have struggled too greatly when it came to going hungry in the jungle: “He’s weird,” he joked. The former footballer disclosed that he had also been invited to appear on the programme: “I got offered it the next year,” he said. “It was a year after dad did it. My agent called me up, and he said ‘Would you like …’ and I said ‘How can I match that?’ My dad just killed it, didn’t he?'”
He went on to suggest that his footballing career ought to have concluded earlier than it did. Jamie’s time in the Premier League, where he made his name at Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton, was hampered by a series of injuries, which he acknowledges made life “really difficult.”
In one particularly notable instance, he claims he likely caused himself lasting damage by returning to the pitch far too early.
Jamie said: “We’re losing one-nil to Bristol City in the FA Cup. It’s horrendous….Graeme Souness is the manager and I sit down to listen to Graeme and as I go to get up my knee just locks – I can’t move. I cannot straighten my leg. It was the weirdest sensation.”
Harry was back in the jungle this year for I’m A Celeb…South Africa(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
With Liverpool staring down the barrel of a humiliating loss, Jamie was reluctant to be taken off. Nevertheless, a doctor was summoned, and it was established that he had sustained a meniscus tear.
He was required to undergo surgery to fix the injury — an operation that in the modern era would typically demand a six-month recovery period — but times were different, Jamie recalls: “He operates on me. 12 days later I’m playing at Southampton.”
Jamie adds: “That’s why at 49 years of age I had to have a knee replacement.” He reflects with some regret on his “injury-prone” label: “That was really difficult to sort of …you get a reputation of being injury-prone and everything that goes with it.
“But if you actually know the details and how hard I worked to come back and how unlucky I was with injuries,… I was probably too honest for my own good at times.
“I think that came from my dad and just thinking that I’m not going to come off in this game but my you know you’re in trouble with your knee instead of just going look I’ve got to come off and not play.”
Nevertheless, Jamie maintains a balanced perspective: “But as I look back, and even as a person I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I’ve had so many things that have gone my way, you know, and every decision I’ve made has been pretty pretty fortunate.”
Catch Harry on Celebrity Sabotage on Channel 4 tonight (Saturday, April 18) from 8pm to 9pm.
