Owen Warner reveals big struggle and regret on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
Owen Warner did I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2022.
Hollyoaks alum Owen Warner struggled with his real self being exposed on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
The 26-year-old hunk - who played Romeo Nightingale on the Channel 4 soap from July 2018 until March 2024 - had "nowhere to hide" as cameras monitored his every move in the critter-filled outback on the ITV jungle survival show in 2022.
Owen exclusively told BANG Showbiz on behalf of Sky Vegas: "It was the first time I’ve had to be myself in front of a camera.
"When you’re acting, you can hide behind a character, their actions, and the script. It’s not you - you bring your personality to it, but it’s still not you.
"In the jungle, there’s nowhere to hide. You’re just yourself, completely exposed, and that’s the first time I’d experienced opening myself up to that kind of judgment from the public."
The constant worry about viewers' reactions to Owen being himself kept the soap star from fully appreciating some of the jungle's magic.
Quizzed on the one thing he wished he had done better on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Owen admitted: "Looking back, I think the mental and physical state you’re in out there is so different to how I am now.
"You’re hungry, missing your family, completely isolated, so you’re in a totally different headspace.
"In that moment, I probably should’ve taken more time to just take it all in - the nature was incredible, it was so beautiful - but I was so focused on surviving and getting through it.
"I think I missed some of that."
And Owen thought to smuggle delicious contraband into camp.
He confessed: "I was going to sneak in some biscuits as well… that would’ve gone down well."
Owen finished runner-up to 39-year-old former professional footballer Jill Scott.
And the actor was overwhelmed by his success on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!
Owen appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain following the final and told hosts Susanna Reid, 55, and 59-year-old Ed Balls: "It's all crazy. It all feels a bit of a blur; I still have to wrap my head around it. I'm not used to this.
"I'm getting used to the fact that other people have been watching the show. I'm telling people stories, and they're like, 'Oh, I watched that.'"
