While most people see retirement as a chance to relax and do the things they enjoy, former football manager Harry Redknapp decided to live rough in the Australian bush!
The 71-year-old former manager of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur swapped his £4 million seaside mansion in exclusive Sandbanks, in Poole, Dorset, for a jungle hammock beneath the stars, when he signed up for the gruelling reality show, I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here.
Redknapp is one of a group of celebrities who agreed to take part in the 16th series of the ITV show, enduring meagre rations, cold showers, plenty of insect bites and the dreaded bush challenges to compete for the title of king/queen of the jungle.
Photo Credit: James Boyes / CC BY 2.0
Footballing legend
The former midfielder has been involved in football for most of his life, first as a player and then as a manager. Born in Poplar, London, in March 1947, Redknapp was playing for East London Schools Football at the age of 11 when he was spotted by a talent scout, Dickie Walker, who signed him up for the Tottenham Hotspur youth ranks.
It was the start of a legendary career spanning around 60 years, which saw Redknapp play for clubs such as West Ham (alongside Bobby Moore), Bournemouth and Brentford, with a stint in the United States playing for the Seattle Sounders, before finishing his playing career back at Bournemouth in 1982.
He then moved into football management at the helm of several of his old clubs, including Bournemouth from 1983 to 1992 and West Ham from 1994 to 2001.
The final club he managed to date was Birmingham City in 2017. On leaving after a brief stint following the resignation of his predecessor Gianfranco Zola, Redknapp said it was likely to be his last job in football management.
Personal life
Redknapp has two sons, Jamie and Mark, with wife Sandra. Mark is a model, while Jamie is a former professional footballer, who played under Harry at AFC Bournemouth from 1990. Jamie went on to play for Spurs and Southampton, before retiring as a player in 2005. He is now a pundit at Sky Sports.
Football runs in the family - Mark's son, Harry Redknapp Jnr, signed for AFC Bournemouth in 2014, while Harry Snr's nephew is Frank Lampard, former England midfielder and Chelsea legend, who now manages Championship club Derby County.
Harry published his first autobiography, Harry Redknapp: My Autobiography in 1998 and his second, Always Managing, in 2013.
He confirmed he was a contestant on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here on 12th November, joining celebrities from all walks of life, including The Chase star Anne Hegerty, television presenter and DJ Noel Edmonds, X-Factor finalist Fleur East and former EastEnders actress Rita Simons in the jungle.
Redknapp has surprised some viewers with his wholehearted participation in disgusting jungle challenges, such as the Deadly Dash Trial - involving burying his face in a tray of gunk and jumping over low hurdles, with no idea where he was going due to the amount of goo in front of his eyes!
His career in football management seems to have helped him with the team building challenges and forging relationships with his campmates. He even volunteered for toilet duty, emptying the chemical toilet and putting a clean one in! He admits he can't cook and won't be much use with some chores, so he does what he can.
Tactics
Redknapp has also used his tactical skills to triumph in challenges, including one which involved rowing across a lake in a canoe that wasn't big enough to hold everyone. The camp was split into two teams, each with their own canoe. Redknapp had DIY SOS host Nick Knowles (a strong swimmer) on his team, so he suggested Knowles should swim while holding on to the canoe, to help propel it across the lake.
Meanwhile, the other team, which included Anne Hegerty and Rita Simons, didn't have a well thought-out plan. Everyone simply piled into the canoe and it sank! Following their successful challenge, Knowles commented how Redknapp had come up with the plan and everyone had stuck to it, adding, "We did it Harry's way."
After living in the squalor of the camp, contestants who are evicted through the public vote are transferred to the luxurious five-star Versace Hotel, at Surfers' Paradise, where they can recover from the rigours of the challenges and Bushtucker Trials! Redknapp is currently 2/5 on favourite to win the show, according to William Hill bookmakers.
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