Last night, during a live grand finale, Dylan Lewis was crowned the King of the Jungle on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!
The show, which sees celebs live in the jungle and face spine-tingling challenges, is not easy to win. But after a vote from the Australian public, Dylan came out on top, winning a whopping $100,000 for his chosen charity Lifeline.
Lewis faced quite a few hurdles during his time on the show, one of them was overcoming his fear of snakes. But it was his candid revelation about his younger brother Quinn that left a tear in everyone’s eye. The broadcaster chose to support Lifeline after losing Quinn to suicide in 2007.
Speaking to POPSUGAR Australia, Dylan told us about how he’s feeling now, his time in the jungle and what he plans on doing next.
POPSUGAR Australia: First off, congratulations. How are you feeling after last night?
Dylan Lewis: It’s still sinking in! It feels like a weird dream, and I’m not sure if I’m going to wake up and have to do it all over again. But the lead-up to it was so nerve-racking, but when the moment happened, and I managed to go all the way to the end, I was in an absolute state of shock. The reason is because I 100% believe every single one of us deserves to win. And I think we all did win, I just got to the end and I got an amazing donation for Lifeline. But everyone talked about their charity so beautifully and exposed themselves so vulnerably and bravely, and that’s the win.
PS: You first won Celebrity Big Brother and now you’ve won I’m a Celeb. Are there any other reality shows you’re going to try and conquer?
DL: Yeah definitely, all of them! Bring it on, let’s go. I only do them once every 20 years though, so the next one I’ll probably be heading into space which I’m really looking forward to.
PS: What made you want to compete on I’m a Celeb?
DL: Having a platform to be able to discuss the charities that we’re all heavily passionate about and thinking, this is an opportunity and I’m not going to waste it. For me, my personal story was hard to talk about publicly before, so being able to have this platform to start these conversations, that’s the reason for doing it. I really didn’t feel like eating horrible things, going up high and being thrown out of a helicopter or having snakes on my face, but the reality of the situation is that they pale in comparison to what people’s real-life stories are. They’re not as hard as the challenges we face in real life. Personally, losing my brother to suicide 15 years ago, that’s harder than anything I’ve done in the jungle, and sadly my story isn’t unique. So to be able to start these conversations, I feel as if something good can come out of it.
PS: You faced some of your biggest fears on the show. Do you feel like you’re a changed person now?
DL: Absolutely. You go through life and you face challenging moments. Some of them are heavy and some are less heavy, but I never really believed in my own strength and that’s a common theme for someone who does these kinds of things. You come out of there proving to yourself that you’ve got a strength you didn’t realise you had. And it doesn’t take a snake pit to realise that, it’s something we’ve all got in us.
PS: How does it feel knowing that because of your efforts, Lifeline received a $100,000 donation?
DL: Humbling and amazing. Every single person’s charity was deserving and the fact that we got exposure and got the conversation started is just as big of a win. The $100,000 is going to help. It’s going to go a long way in saving some lives and that’s an important thing to me and everyone. I’m elated that this happened. It’s more than I could have ever dreamed of.
PS: How did your kids feel watching their dad on-screen competing in these insane challenges?
DL: They loved watching it. It was a bit different to the normal versions and I was able to watch it with the kids and hold their hands during the tough bits. And I could have those conversations with them and help them understand what I was going through. Both of my kids said they were proud of me and that was lovely.
