Bond girl Britt Ekland talks 'I'm A Celebrity' and 007
30-Nov-2010 • Actor News
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How are you feeling, Britt?
"I feel great. I'm doing well. I had a fantastic jungle experience, although it was a lot tougher than I expected. At one point, I didn't eat for 24 hours in the camp. I just had one spoonful of rice before that - and I lost a massive amount of weight very quickly. I felt that all my strength had gone. And then I got two tics, too."
What were the conditions like in camp?
"It was incredibly humid, wet and cold in the camp. It rained constantly day and night for seven days. There was no let up. There was no sunshine. Everything was wet. The swag was wet. Your clothes were wet. Your socks were wet. You had to go out into the rain to go to the dunny or to the Bush Telegraph. It was horrible."
What was the toughest aspect of jungle life?
"Everything on the show is designed to 'weird' you out. We never knew what time it was. We never knew what time we got up. We didn't know what time it was when we met Ant and Dec. We did nothing and we ate nothing. I was really worried about the tics because they carry diseases in Sweden. I don't want to have neurological problems from two tics, but I am assured that the Australian tics don't have any diseases like that."
Did you think your James Bond past would help you in the jungle?
"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if James Bond came in a helicopter, flew down a ladder and said, "Miss Goodnight, just climb up here". But that was never going to happen. I live in the real world."
How fondly do you look back at your work on James Bond?
"I was terrified when we had to work in Thailand amongst all the explosions in the movie. If you have seen The Man With The Golden Gun, you will notice that at the very end - when Roger Moore and I are running out - he's holding my hand and I'm in a bikini - but I suddenly throw myself on the ground and he pushes me up. He pushes me up because one of the explosives was right by my bum. We had to keep running. Set the movie on slow and watch it again."
Did you recognise any of your fellow campers when you first arrived in the camp?
"To be honest, I didn't know anybody in the jungle with me. I knew about Linford Christie because his name was mentioned in the papers before I left for Australia. But I didn't have any experience of his success because I wasn't in the UK when he was in the Olympics. However, you can just look at him and you know he's someone very important."
What about the others?
"I didn't go around the camp saying, 'What do you do?' Someone told me that Stacey Solomon could be doing the show with me because it was also speculated in the press. My friend said to me, 'Young people love Stacey, so be nice to her'. It took two seconds to figure out who Stacey was."
Had you heard of Gillian?
"I knew the name Gillian McKeith, but I'd never met her and I'd never seen her show. I found Gillian's behaviour and lack of information about I'm A Celebrity absolutely astonishing for a professional woman. She shouldn't say, 'Oh, I thought it was a set and we all slept in a hotel'. I know that's not true because we've all sat through the same meetings with the producers."
What do you think of Gillian?
"Gillian is a complete fake. She's a bloody good fake and a bloody annoying fake as well. Gillian wasn't a team player and she didn't want to share anything in the jungle. She didn't want to give. Apart from her spices, she only took from everyone and everything in the camp."
Why did you sign up for I'm A Celebrity?
"I've been an incredibly private person for the last 20 years and I wanted people to see the real me. I wanted them to see me without make-up and to understand I'm a living human being; I'm not just a Bond girl."
When Alison Hammond left the camp, she said that Shaun Ryder was moody and he scares the other campmates with his outbursts. Would you agree?
"That's absolutely untrue. He's not moody. He's very shy and I think he finds this experience very difficult, but he's a professional. He knows why he's in the jungle. He's got a greatest hits album coming out and he's got a tour. That's why he's there."
What do you think of Shaun?
"I love Shaun. He's a muso and I can identify with that because I have spent most of my life with musicians. Shaun is very shy but when he opens up, he's great. Shaun is not a casual conversation guy, but he talks to everyone. He doesn't feel the need to hang out and be lovey dovey."
Will you be friends with all of the campers after the show finishes?
"I'd like to meet all of the campers outside the jungle, apart from Gillian. I think she's behaved so incredibly appalling that I won't take her email address. I won't have anything to do with her. Maybe looking at poo drove her round the bend?"
I'm A Celebrity continues tonight at 8.30pm on ITV1
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