Frankie Muniz bid an emotional farewell to his campmates during the I’m A Celebrity episode that aired on Sunday, April 14.
The Malcolm actor explained to his cast mates that he was missing his wife and son and wanted to be more “present” for them, and decided to leave after he received a letter from home.
During an interview with Chattr, Frankie revealed that there was more to his departure than just receiving the letter.
“It was a hard thing to do,” said of his choice, but explained that he’d found himself in a good place in the jungle, and was worried if he stayed longer that headspace may have changed.
“I’m not a quitter, I didn’t want to quit. I ended up being in there for 21 days. And I think it was on day seven, that I already felt like I had such an eye-opening experience – it was like a wellness retreat,” he said.
“I kept having I have days where I was just like, ‘I want my wife and my son to get this version of me,'” he added.
“I had some talks with people and I was afraid that the longer I stayed, maybe campmates would start fighting, or maybe people leaving was going to bring me down.
“I kept still learning about myself and kept having all these positive experiences and, then getting the letter that morning was the breaking point because I realised that I hadn’t necessarily been present with my wife and my son.”
Frankie on his relationship with his wife and son
During season ten of I’m A Celebrity, Frankie spoke about being in a financial position to retire, but his desire to keep working.
In our interview, he said that his experience in the jungle has put the importance of spending time with his family in perspective.
“I’m just so busy and stressed and I put all those things [work] not first, but like I always say, as soon as I’m done with this, I’ll have time as soon as I’m done with this, I’ll be better. And it just never ends, right? Just this never-ending cycle,” he said.
Frankie said this realisation was what tipped his decision to walk out of the show.
“I’m like, no, ‘let me put my money where my mouth is, and go do it right now’. It was very hard decision to make because I loved the experience. I love everybody that was in the jungle with me. So I was also leaving my friends.
“It was tough, I just did it and I don’t regret it. But I have gotten sad about not being in the jungle anymore.”
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