I’m A Celebrity’s Nick Pickard receives triumphant welcome

Nick Pickard appeared in good spirits as he arrived at the Marriot Hotel following his elimination from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

The Hollyoaks actor, 48, lost out to Josie Gibson in the public vote after they both unexpectedly came in the bottom two.

Nick received a triumphant welcome as he was greeted with applause from some of the eliminated contestants and the other celebrities’ loved ones. 

The soap star was clearly thrilled to be reunited with his girlfriend Sarah Corrin as he wrapped an arm around her waist after arriving at the hotel.

Also present was Frankie Dettori and Marvin Humes‘ wife Rochelle.

Nick and Sarah live together in Liverpool but their relationship has remained out of the public eye. 

They have been dating for several years and Sarah was the first family member to arrive in Australia last week to support Nick.

She told MailOnline she has been begging family and friends to vote the soap star for his first Bushtucker Trial.

‘I’ve still yet to see him do a Bushtucker Trial and all my friends and family are like, “What shall we do?” And I keep saying, “Vote! Vote” and people are like you’re not meant to vote him in but I think we are! I think he’d enjoy it,’ she said.

Nick is the longest-running soap actor on Hollyoaks – playing Tony Hutchinson for 28 years and Sarah said: ‘It’s nice people get to see the Nick part of him and not just Tony. But you haven’t seen all of him yet. 

‘I’ve wanted him to do it for years. He’s very competitive and a good team player so that’s why I’ve always said, out of all the things he could do, I’m A Celebrity would be a good one for him.’

‘I’m really surprised I haven’t seen him have a hunger tantrum. He is the most positive upbeat person you’ll ever meet but don’t mess with him and his food.

‘When people are going off for the Trials he’s like ‘Don’t worry if you don’t get all the stars’ but I know on the inside he’s like inside, ‘You have to get all the stars’.’

This week Sarah said she is also enjoying Nick’s newfound status after noticing his popularity surge on TikTok, with a number of videos being made about ‘fit Nick.’

She told MailOnline: ‘I’ve had people sending me stuff saying that Nick is a heartthrob. Which is a surprise, well, not a surprise to me because I think he’s gorgeous but he’s got a whole new following.’

Though he has not had much airtime, Nick has caught the eye of viewers who shared their admiration of him on TikTok, branding him the ‘fittest’ on this year’s show.

Clips edited on the social media platform of Nick on the show are reaching up to 30,000 likes with people commenting, ‘Wow, I’m in love with him.’

Sarah continued: ‘This girl put up a poll on Instagram. One option was “I find Nick weirdly fit” and the majority had clicked that.’

‘I commented that I agreed but said “less of the weird please”,’ she joked.

‘Then she privately messaged me and must have seen my Instagram supporting him and said: “Oh, are you a fan?”.

After his exit on Wednesday, Nick joined Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly to look back on his jungle journey.

He grinned as he arrived to speak to the co-hosts and admitted he was happy to be leaving because he felt like his time on the show had come to an end.

He revealed it was his family who persuaded him to go on the ITV show as he said he was pleased to have finally taken part after more than 20 years on Hollyoaks.