𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗼𝘄 ━━━━ roman kemp

━━━━ one

"What are you most afraid of dealing with during your time in the jungle?" The interviewer asks as Mathilda revels in her final moments of glamour before entering the Australian jungle for up to three weeks.

"You mean besides leaving my three year old daughter in the hands of my brothers?" she asks him jokingly as they both laugh. "I am awful with water. Any situation where I have to have my head underwater or where I feel like I can't breathe will be a real challenge for me. I'll definitely give everything a go, but yeah, water and confined spaces are definitely my biggest source of fear going into this," she admits.

The interview nods from behind the camera. "How are you with insects and animals?"

Mathilda shrugs her shoulders. "I want to say that they don't bother me but I've never really been faced with thousands of creepy-crawlies before, so who knows? Although, I will say that spiders definitely don't faze me because I've spent the majority of my life removing them from my brothers' bedrooms."

"What are you most looking forward to over the coming weeks?"

"Pushing myself to the limit and going on a journey which will stay with me for life," she answers instantaneously. Signing up for the show had been a decision made over the course of several months, with Mathilda ultimately deciding to take a leap of faith and step out of her comfort zone. "I just want to enjoy this life-changing experience and hopefully make some friends that I'll stay in contact with for years to come."

The interviewer hums. "And finally, what would somebody have to do to get you to lose your temper whilst you're down there?"

"I'm not a particularly violent person but I'm not one for negativity either, so I guess I'll be most likely to say something if anybody is excessively pessimistic. Not to mention that I'm extremely grumpy if I don't eat a lot," she adds and the interviewer laughs at her words, knowing that there will definitely be a lack of food in camp.

"Thank you, Mathilda. Enjoy the rest of your day."

"Thank you very much. I'm going to gorge myself on a delicious breakfast before we leave, for sure."

As promised, Mathilda forces herself to eat a large amount of food that morning, even as her stomach protests the copious amounts of greasy food. Bacon, eggs, sausages, toast, and a glass of fresh orange juice leave her feeling full, a feeling that will no doubt be foreign to her by the end of this experience.

She is ushered out of the hotel by one of the ITV workers just before midday, embarking on a reasonably short journey to her temporary home. There she meets an idol of hers: Cliff Parisi from EastEnders. She had watched him on the show for several years, having been obsessed with it and watching religiously with her younger brother, Harry.

The two of them are escorted to an area of the jungle which has been transformed to look like the wild west, the set being named Ol' Dingo Town. Mathilda can't help but giggle hysterically, the reality of what she's gotten herself into finally registering in her mind.

Eventually, she hears the voices of Ant and Dec and smothers her awe with a loud, "yeehaw!"

"Howdy partners! Pew pew pew pew!" Shouts Cliff from the balcony facing hers, completely engrossed in the role of a cowboy.

"Howdy, partner," echoes Mathilda, grinning like a maniac. "Howdy, boys," she greets the presenters of the show and they return the greeting with similar cowboy-themed responses.

"Mathilda, Cliff, welcome to Ol' Dingo Town," Ant says enthusiastically.

Mathilda takes off her hat, waving it around at them. "It's a pleasure to be here," she says honestly, "even though something tells me whatever is about to happen is going to be less than pleasurable."