Paul Burrell: Who is the I’m a Celebrity South Africa contestant?
A fresh batch of celebrities are appearing in ITV’s new All-Stars edition of I’m a Celebrity – set in South Africa.
Arriving on ITV on 24 April, I’m a Celebrity... South Africa sees a number of prominent past contestants return to the series for another set of challenges.
Phil Tufnell, Carol Vorderman and Shaun Ryder are among the faces to be competing in the series.
ITV has claimed that the new locale will provide “bigger” and “tougher” challenges in a “harsher and more unforgiving” environment.
Among the contestants is ex-royal household employee Paul Burell.
The 64-year-old was a former butler to the late Princess Diana, the former Princess of Wales.
After Diana’s death in a car crash 1997, Burrell published multiple books detailing his relationship with the late royal. He has claimed that Diana described him as “the only man she ever trusted”.
Members of the royal family, though, have suggested otherwise.
In his book A Royal Duty, the ex-butler made a series of claims including one that Diana feared for her life and spoke of a plot to tamper with the brakes of her car before she died in 2003. The letters used in the book were fully revealed in the 2007 inquest into Diana’s death at London’s High Court.
In a rare public statement in 2003, Prince William and Prince Harry accused Burrell of betraying their mother and said she would have been mortified by his breach of confidence, since Burrell had published Diana’s private letters.
The Princes said in a statement: “We cannot believe that Paul, who was entrusted with so much, could abuse his position in such a cold and overt betrayal.
“It was not only deeply painful for the two of us but also for everyone else affected and it would mortify our mother if she were alive today and, if we might say so, we feel we are more able to speak for our mother than Paul. We ask Paul please to bring these revelations to an end.”
Burrell later said that he was “saddened” by the statement issued on behalf of the royal brothers but insisted that his book was “nothing more than a tribute” to the late royal.
This wouldn’t be Burrell’s first appearance on the reality TV show. He appeared in the fourth series of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in November 2004 and, in 2018, he appeared in the fourth season of the Australian version. He has also made appearances on a number of TV shows including This Morning, Good Morning Britain and is often called upon to speak on royal issues by the press.
In January 2023, Burrell announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022 and is undergoing treatment.
Ahead of the launch of I’m A Celebrity... South Africa next week, Burrell said he wants to represent “all the dads who are struggling with their sexuality”.
Burrell was married to his ex-wife Maria Cosgrove from 1984 to 2016 before marrying Graham Cooper in 2017.
“I was a married guy with two kids and now 19 years on, I am a married man again but this time around, I have a husband,” reports Metro.co.uk.
“It is going to be different because I am a different person now,” he said.
I’m a Celebrity.... South Africa begins on 24 April at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
