Joanna Page has revealed that her Gavin & Stacey co-stars Ruth Jones and James Corden are backing her bid to become Queen of the Jungle on I'm A Celebrity. The Welsh actress, 49, said Ruth had sent her a personal message telling her how proud she was, while both stars have promised to drum up votes to keep her in the ITV show.
Joanna, who is second favourite alongside former England football captain Wayne Rooney, admitted she would love to become the first Welsh Queen of the Jungle. She spoke ahead of entering camp, saying: "The first thing I had was messages from Ruth Jones and James Corden going, 'Oh my God, you're going into the jungle!' Well, this is going to be hilarious TV. Can't wait to see you."
Ruth's touching message
Joanna, who played Stacey Shipman in the BBC sitcom, said she had been particularly moved by Ruth's reaction. She said: "And then before I left, Ruth sent me the most loveliest message, just telling me how proud she was of me, and that you know to go out there and go for it, and she just loves me and just is really really proud of me." She added: "I was really really touched by that, and then when Ruth sent me that, I was like, oh god, that's really really lovely."
The pair have remained close since Gavin & Stacey first aired on BBC Three in May 2007. Created by Ruth and James Corden, the comedy followed the romance between Stacey, from Barry in South Wales, and Gavin, played by Mathew Horne, from Billericay in Essex. Ruth played Stacey's best friend Nessa Jenkins, while Corden starred as Gavin's mate Smithy.
Social media campaign and Nessa's post
Joanna said both her TV pals were looking forward to watching her tackle the Bushtucker Trials. She said: "Just knowing that your friends are there and they're supporting you, they're looking forward to laughing at you as well and what you're going to be getting up to." She also revealed Ruth was preparing to campaign for her on social media, recalling that she told them, "You better be doing that QR code. You better keep me in there." Ruth replied: "Don't worry, I've already composed my message that I'm going to be sending out on Instagram. We're fully supporting you."
Ruth has already posted a photograph of herself with Joanna, accompanied by a message from her Gavin & Stacey alter ego Nessa. In the Instagram post on Tuesday, Nessa warned Stacey about the disgusting food she might have to eat in the jungle, joking about her mother Gwen's infamous omelettes. She also told her: "You makes Barry very proud I'm not gonna lie." Joanna's Instagram account, being managed on her behalf, replied: "No more omelettes for our Stace now..."
Family separation and packing chaos
Joanna admitted she would love to bring the jungle crown back to Wales, saying: "Oh, I think I would absolutely love to become the first Welsh Queen of the Jungle. It would be such a huge, huge honor." But despite her competitive streak, she revealed she was already struggling with being separated from her four children. Joanna and her husband, former Emmerdale actor James Thornton, 51, have daughters Eva, 13, and Boe, four, and sons Kit, 11, and Noah, nine. The couple married in December 2003 and live in Oxfordshire.
Joanna admitted she had previously ridiculed contestants who became emotional about missing their families. She said: "I've watched this show every single year, and then normally when people start getting a bit weepy because they're missing their family, I've always thought, 'Oh, for goodness' sake, put yourself together! It's only a couple of weeks. You're going to see him soon.'" But she added: "It's really surprised me how much that affects you so quickly because everything is just so intense." She said she was finding it particularly difficult not being able to send James messages and photographs throughout the day, adding: "I'm quite surprised how much that has thrown me quite early on. I'm missing them a lot."
Joanna also revealed how her departure from Britain descended into chaos when she suffered a packing meltdown at 3am, just hours before being collected for her flight. She said: "I was thinking of the nativity that Boe is doing, and all of the Christmas concerts and all of that, I was going to do a big list for James and for my parents and get everything sorted. And then it was all too overwhelming. And I thought, you know what, stuff this. I'm just not going to do it. He's just going to have to find the stuff out himself. We're going to put mum and dad on the WhatsApp groups. I'm going. I can't cope with all of this. They'll have to deal with it without me."
I'm A Celebrity returns to ITV1 and ITVX on Monday at 9pm.
