Jack Osbourne has hinted that his behaviour on the current series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! may be deeply connected to the way he is processing the devastating loss of his father, rock icon Ozzy Osbourne.
A Podcast Revelation on Grief
In a pre-recorded episode of his Trying Not To Die podcast, released on December 2, Jack spoke candidly with food blogger Kelly Rizzo about navigating grief. The conversation took place before he entered the ITV jungle. Rizzo described the initial months after losing a loved one as "disorienting," a sentiment Jack echoed.
He revealed that since Ozzy's death, he has often felt a powerful urge to stay occupied. "I felt like I had to... make sure the family's good. I've got to, like, take on stuff. I gotta, you know, try and steer the ship a little bit through this," Jack explained.
He elaborated on the compulsive need for activity, stating: "But it's like having those moments in between that, like, 'Must do something, must occupy, you know, this chaos with a task', and when there's no task, it's like you feel that, like, slump, right?"
Jungle Tensions and Culinary Clashes
This insight offers a poignant context for recent tensions in the camp. Earlier this week, EastEnders actress Shona McGarty, who was tasked with cooking kangaroo meat, became frustrated when Jack and fellow campmate Ruby Wax offered unsolicited advice on the meal preparation.
Jack advised on the best method to cook potatoes and instructed her to keep flies off the meat, while comedian Wax expressed concern the corn was "overdone." In the Bush Telegraph, Jack admitted he finds it "difficult to just observe," a trait he says also annoys his wife at home.
Shona did not hold back her irritation, telling the Bush Telegraph: "I could have poked Jack with a stick today, some of the comments on there tonight were getting on my t**s I'm not gonna lie." Despite the friction, the camp ultimately praised Shona's cooking, with Lisa Riley calling it the best meal she'd had in the jungle.
Remembering a Rock Legend
The backdrop to this series for Jack is the profound loss of his father. Heavy metal pioneer Ozzy Osbourne died on Tuesday, July 22, at the age of 76. His passing came just weeks after he performed a farewell gig with his legendary band Black Sabbath.
Jack joined the I'm A Celeb line-up, which includes rapper Aitch and Emmerdale's Lisa Riley, several months after this tragic event. His comments on the podcast suggest his proactive, sometimes interfering, demeanour in camp could be a direct manifestation of his coping mechanism—using tasks to distract from the overwhelming sadness of grief.
As the Osbourne family marked what would have been Ozzy's birthday on December 3, Jack's jungle experience appears to be intertwined with a very personal journey of loss and the relentless human need to keep moving forward.
