You’d think being an Australian TV chef and icon would exempt you from being positively starstruck; however, for Khanh Ong, coming face-to-face with an idol in the I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here Jungle made him just so.
Speaking to Chattr after his April 16 elimination, Khanh said that someone behind the camera made him squeal with excitement.
“I’m obsessed with Julia [Morris] and Robert [Irwin],” Khan confessed. “But there was another person that I literally lost my s**t over. Terri Irwin.”
Khanh then revealed that Terri watches the Trials, with one particular memory sticking out.
“I literally started screaming [during one Trial] and Ellie’s [Cole] like, ‘Why are you screaming?’. I’m like, Terri’s there. She’s just standing there, she’s smiling. She’s just so wholesome.
“I love Robert, love Julie but Terri in the corner? I lost my s**t!
He continued: “I honestly died. Like when I came out this morning, and I could hug her. It made the entire experience for me.”
Khanh shares other favourite moments in the jungle
While meeting Terri was a highlight, Khanh also shared other moments he treasured.
“It was really the moments where I could sit down during dinnertime because I had sous chef every night,” he said. “That was the moment where I could really speak to people because I think food kind of disarms you a little.
“So everyone opened up a little bit more and I got to know people, just because they were comfortable with the fact that we were preparing food. Those were the moments for me that I really will cherish. Learning about people’s kids and people’s families, and things like that.”
In addition, Khanh admitted that the Jungle felt like a “school camp”, where you “just want to run around and do dumb stuff”.
But one of the real highlights came when Stephen K Amos swam from the pontoon to the waterfall — an achievement that Khanh and Elli helped make possible.
“That’s actually one of my favourite moments. Just watching how joyful he was to swim from the pontoon to the waterfall and back. He was so happy. He had learned a skill.
“It looked like he really, really got something out of the Jungle and it was so different from anyone else. I was just so happy for him.”
You can learn more about Khanh’s charity Minus 18 here.
Watch I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here from Sunday – Thursday at 7.30 pm on 10 and 10Play.
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