I’m A Celeb winner Jill Scott says she can’t wait to marry fiancée Shelly Unitt

Queen of the Jungle Jill Scott says she can’t wait to marry her fiancé and admits it was “difficult” to be separated from her long-term love in the I’m A Celeb camp.

The former Lioness, 35, admitted the biggest challenge was a month without any contact from her friend Shelly Unitt and says surviving in the Australian camp would not have been possible without her unwavering support.

Following England’s Euro 2022 win and I’m A Celeb win, Jill says her ‘next plan is to get married’ and following the couple’s 2020 engagement it’s about time they ‘start planning a bit’ .

In her first interview since winning the jungle title, Jill said: “We got engaged two years ago and Covid has affected us so I think we need some planning. It’ll be nice.

“We need to sit down and just catch up on the past five weeks and what’s happened, but obviously we’re going to get engaged, the next plan is to get married.”

“I’ve always valued our relationship 100 percent — it’s so hard on the person you’re with and the sacrifices they have to make to go play football and be away for two weeks a month. Shelly’s support goes into this from day one, if I hadn’t I couldn’t have done it, so we’re a good team.

“I’m excited to see what happens in the future, but I don’t think there will be a wedding in the jungle!”

After 16 years of traveling the world with the England women’s football team, Jill thought she’d be well prepared to miss Shelly and her loved ones as they struggle to survive at the I’m A Celeb camp.

But the sports star, who beat Owen Warner and Matt Hancock in the final, underestimated how difficult it would be without the use of technology to connect them and says she took comfort in knowing when Shelly had landed in Australia to meet her. supports.

She said, “It was really hard. Me and Shelly talked about that usually you’re away from a tournament sometimes you’re gone two and a half months but you can FaceTime you can text as long as I know Shelly’s okay your family is okay friends okay but not knowing that was very hard.

“You had to keep your mind on what you were doing and I consoled myself with certain dates so I knew when Shelly fizzled out and I knew she was with the other families so of course it was hard to be away from loved ones but to coming out and seeing how proud everyone is makes it all worth it.”

Jill retired from football in August aged 35 after making the last of her 170 international appearances in the Euro 2022 final.

She was immediately snapped up by ITV bosses to star in I’m A Celeb, returning to his native Australia for the first time in two years.

After living in the moment and following her “Step by step, day by day, mile by mile” mantra, which she tattooed on her wrist, Jill admits that she doesn’t necessarily have a career plan right now.

But she’s aiming to cover Australia’s Women’s World Cup next year, giving her the perfect opportunity to return to Down Under.

When asked if she sees herself as ITV’s new poster girl, Jill said: ‘I haven’t really thought about it. I’m so in the moment.

“When I went into the jungle I thought ‘should I have asked more questions’, in my head I thought… November, I’m going into the jungle and then I thought ‘do I have a plan for December?’ No.

“I feel like a lot of people are retiring, for example Alex Scott, she had this media plan of what she was going to do, but I’m just not that way.

“I’m just being the best version of yourself every day and I always think tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so if you can do that then hopefully something will come of it.”

‘Of course it’s the Women’s World Cup next year… is there a possibility to present something? I certainly wouldn’t turn that down, especially since it’s in Australia again, but hopefully I don’t have to live in the jungle!’

She regretted missing the men’s World Cup games that kicked off this month in Qatar and admitted that every time she knew they were playing, she felt her heart sink.

But she tried to stay connected to the game in every way she could, including three plays of Sweet Caroline as her luxury item and bonding with fellow finalist Owen Warner over their dream starting lineup.

Jill said: ‘I don’t think I would have been in Qatar, but I would have seen every match.

“I watched mine and Owen’s mood just drop every time there was a game day. We were desperate for the score.

“We spent so much time talking about who we would play in our starting eleven, I had three plays from Sweet Caroline, so on the days when England played we tried to have those connections as much as possible.”

Jill and her fiancé Shelly run a coffee shop in Manchester called Boxx2Boxx, named after the footballer’s position on the pitch as a box-to-box midfielder.

Despite enduring Bushtucker trials for the past three weeks, surviving on rations and adhering to camp chores, the low-key star says it won’t be long before she returns to her duties at the café.

She added: “As soon as the European Championship was over I went in because I would like to thank everyone for the support.

“We have customers who have been so loyal to us and have kept the store running at 100 percent, especially due to Covid. Like the euro, I’m not going to change who I am.’

Arguably the most modest winner in I’m A Celeb history, she says she’ll be celebrating her win Monday night with a pizza, a glass of wine and catching up with her co-stars.

She said, “I just want a margarita pizza, have a drink, relax, I don’t want a whole lot of alcohol.” I’m not a big drinker so when I did the challenge with Mike Tindall I thought this isn’t going well, I’m not one to drink a lot and he’s clearly a rugby man.

“As long as I can drink two reds with my camp mates and catch up with them properly and catch up with Shelly…I’m really looking forward to it.”