WAYNE Rooney says his marriage to Coleen is in a “better place” after cutting out booze for the past six months and losing more than three stone to prepare for I’m A Celebrity.
41, ahead of ITV1’s opening show tomorrow — following in the footsteps of , who was the runner-up in 2024.
Dad-of-four Wayne, the bookies’ favourite to be crowned King of the Jungle, has revealed he has lost more than 3st (20kg) over the past year by following a strict diet and training routine.
Speaking ahead of entering the camp, he said: “I have stopped drinking for six months now. To be honest, I am probably eating the healthiest I have ever eaten, training and getting back into a routine so it all ties in and all helps.
“I think I am in a really good place, a really happy place.”
Wayne said Coleen, 40, is impressed with his after celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary in June.
He said: “She is happy, because I think, from a point of view of our marriage, it is in a better place and a much happier place. So that has obviously made a difference.
“She has said I look better, but also from a mental point of view I am in a much better place as well.”
Asked if quitting has had an impact, he said: “Yeah, of course it has, on everything — I think just in day-to-day living.”
Wayne said he was motivated to shed the weight after signing up for the show, in a deal understood to be worth £1.5million.
He said: “I have prepared well for it in terms of cutting down on food and making sure I am in the best possible place to handle what is thrown at me in there.”
Wayne has been flooded with compliments on social media
He said his fresher complexion is down to ditching the booze.
He explained: “I think losing weight helps with your skin and not drinking helps from a health point of view.”
Coleen won the hearts of the nation when she placed second on the show behind
Of her advice, Wayne said: “To just be myself. I know quite a few people who have been in there as well as Coleen and I think you have to experience it for yourself and that is what Coleen said.”
Asked her final words before he stepped on the plane, he joked: “She just told me to put my seat-belt on when I am on the plane.”
Speaking about possibly beating Coleen to the title, he said: “There is no competition. I was very proud of Coleen and her time in the jungle. I thought she did brilliantly, but there is a different set of people in there, so our one could be completely different.
“If I was to win it, then great, and if not, I have always wanted to do the show. As I said there is no competition — but I would like to do a little bit better than her.”
Wayne said Coleen will head to Australia with two of their four sons to greet him on the bridge when he finally leaves the camp.
The couple have Kai, 17, Klay, 13, Kit, ten and eight-year-old Cass.
earlier this summer and may remain in the UK because of his training schedule.
On how he will cope without speaking to his family, he said: “Yeah of course you miss them.
“Obviously I have lived away from them before, but having no contact — you have always been able to have contact.
“Even this week having no contact with them is quite strange, so I think that will be tough. Emotionally, you don’t know how that will affect you once you are in there.”
Wayne said he is counting on Coleen to vote for him to do the bushtucker trials — after he encouraged fans to vote for her to do them when she was in the camp.
He said: “Yeah, I am sure she will. To be honest I want to do trials, as that is part of the experience of going in there.”
Fans will see Wayne pushed to his limit when he has to jump out of a helicopter on Australia’s Gold Coast during the launch show tomorrow night.
Speaking about his fear of heights, he said: “When I was younger I was OK, but the older I have got, the worse I have got.
“I have booked to jump out of a helicopter a few times and never had the courage to do it. Three times and I have never actually made it up on the helicopter.”
Wayne, who won 16 trophies during his professional footie career, added: “I am just going in and will try to do my best at whichever trials I get voted to do.
“You don’t know how you are going to be portrayed. But that persona of yourself will show, so I think it is an opportunity for people to see me in that light.”
