In the I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Season 6 Grand Finale, celebrity chef Miguel Maestre was crowned King Of The Jungle 2020, winning $100,000 for his chosen charity, R U OK?
Dale Thomas was voted as Australia’s runner-up and Rhonda Burchmore took third place earlier in the evening.
Miguel was the very first celebrity to saunter onto our screens, and from that very moment, Australia fell in love with the celebrity chef.
Warm, infectious and caring, Miguel has a heart of gold which resulted in him being the resident camp chef, leader and dad.
Whether it was listening attentively to Erin Barnett opening up about endometriosis or comforting Tanya Hennessy as she sobbed, our sensitive Spaniard always put everyone else first.
While other celebrities brought in eyelash brushes, she-wee’s and hats as their luxury items, Miguel brought in a paella kit for everyone to enjoy. And boy did it get a workout.
Every night the celebrities raved about their dinner, with our talented and passionate chef putting a five-star spin on mundane rice and beans. Sure, it helped that he naughtily smuggled in pomellos, chicken stock, salt and paprika, but we’re just going to let that one slide.
From missing Ricky Martin’s call, to his strong views on Australia day, infidelity and pre-nups, Miguel proved he was as good of a sharer as he was a listener.
He wasn’t afraid to back down in a debate either.
When the topic of Tom Gleeson’s infamous 2019 Logie Awards campaign came up, Miguel challenged Dilruk Jayashina over the idea that it was just a bit of harmless fun.
Feeling Tom was making a mockery of an event that praises the pioneers in Australian television, Miguel said his good friend and colleague Amanda Keller was robbed of the prestigious Gold Logie.
When Ryan Gallagher took Miguel to task over the rationing of bananas, Maestre conceded it needed to be split evenly across the whole camp.
Miguel completed in an impressive nine trials during his stint on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! and no had qualms about jumping out of helicopters or pushing his limits to the extreme.
For Miguel, his participation in trials was fuelled by two reasons. One was to make money and create awareness for his charity, RUOK?, an organisation close to his heart and the other was to make his family proud.
From crying in the Tok Tokkie about missing his family, to breaking down seeing them crash camp, family man Miguel was always a blubbering mess when the topic of his loved ones arose.
In a moment that had hearts melting across the country, Miguel told Cos that his wife is a super mum and he couldn’t do life without her.
After an emotional four weeks, Rhonda and Dale were ecstatic for Miguel to take the crown and win $100,000 for his chosen charity, RUOK?
R U OK? were also over the moon. R U OK? CEO Katherine Newton said: “Miguel has raised awareness of suicide prevention by highlighting the pressures of those in the hospitality industry and demonstrated what a difference an R U OK? conversation can make. We will use the funds to produce free resources for the industry to build on suicide prevention literacy and confidence levels to lend life-changing support when working or living alongside someone who is struggling with life.
“Both Miguel and Tanya Hennessy’s meaningful connections with their campmates reminded us all you don’t have to be an expert, just a good friend and a great listener. We hope their example will empower viewers to start a conversation with anyone they’re worried about.”
This series was a joke, changing conditions such as wearing makeup etc, Botox companies would have been going broke. Getting sick of seeing unemployed has beens having a last go at fame. Like it once but will be glad to not be getting vote for whoever emails all day. Need to have a good hard look at this show.