ACTION!

Husband of Queen’s Granddaughter Zara Phillips to Make Reality TV Debut

The former rugby star, 43, married Zara in 2011. Now he is appearing on a British reality TV show that sees stars asked to eat bugs in the Australian jungle.

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Mike Tindall, the former England rugby team member who is married to the queen’s granddaughter, Zara Phillips, is reportedly set to appear in a prime time British reality TV show.

British newspaper The Sun says that Tindall, 43, will next month join the cast of the long-running British TV show I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, which sees contestants sequestered in the Australian jungle and encouraged to do gross-out tasks, usually involving bugs, to win food and other privileges.

Tindall’s co-stars for the next season will include former pop star Boy George.

A source told The Sun: “It’s a massive coup. Mike has had a box seat for some of the most important moments in royal history for generations. He is sure to be discreet, but his sheer presence means this series will be an absolute must-watch.”

Tindall married Zara in 2011 and they have three children; Mia, 8, Lena, 4, and Lucas, 1.

Zara, the daughter of Princess Anne, does not hold a royal title, nor do her children. Zara and her brother Peter Phillips have turned this to their advantage. They have never been working royals and as such have been able to pursue commercial opportunities with relatively little criticism, unlike Meghan and Harry or Sarah Ferguson.

Zara is an Olympic showjumper and has enjoyed a series of lucrative sponsorship deals. Mike has a successful podcast, “The Good, The Bad & The Rugby,” on which he has occasionally discussed royal matters.

Tindall memorably used the show to reveal that his most recently born child arrived “very quickly” and was born “on the bathroom floor.”

“The best thing about being at home was, as soon as he’s wrapped up, skin on skin, [we went] straight downstairs, TV room, golf on, and I’m like, ‘This is what you and me are doing,’” he said.

Speaking about his wife’s grandmother recently, he said: “Zara loved the queen beyond everything. Their connection with horses, the same with the Princess Royal, they had a real bond around that.”

A spokesman for the show told The Sun: “We’ll announce our line-up nearer transmission.”

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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