Owen Warner places second on I'm A Celebrity as he calls show 'hardest thing he's done'

Owen Warner has finished in second place on I'm a Celebrity after making it to the final of the ITV reality series alongside Lioness Jill Scott and MP Matt Hancock

Mark Jefferies

22:34, 27 Nov 2022Updated 22:35, 27 Nov 2022

I'm A Celeb preview: Stars take on the ultimate Jungle Trial

Owen Warner was stunned on Sunday night as he came out of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! a new man and in second place.

The Hollyoaks actor, who has watched the show since he was a child, placed second on the series. His fellow finalists were Lioness Jill Scott and MP Matt Hancock.

Owen said: "It feels mad to be honest.

"I feel like I've grown up a lot in here. I've definitely started sort of in awe of a lot of them and comparing myself like 'what am I doing here with these incredible people'.

"And instead I had to switch my mindset and think actually, I'm with these incredible people, let me learn as much as I can.

[Owen Warner placed x on the I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here 2022 final]

Owen Warner placed x on the I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here 2022 final(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

"I am also taking some incredible friendships, what we have been through in there. Literally it was the hardest thing I've ever done.

"I know for a fact I've made friends for life and I've been guided by them and I'm going to be a new man when I come out of here."

Owen, 23, overcame his fears, and seemingly near-constant hunger to triumph in the jungle as the runner-up.

In an earlier speech when the evictions began he had said he didn't want to ever leave saying: "It is unreal, I want to stay forever with all these people. Let's just forget about outside. I'm living here!"

He was known for playing Romeo Nightingale in the Channel 4 soap but compared to bigger names like Boy George and Chris Moyles was not expected to win when the ITV series began.

However, viewers quickly grew to love Owen for his innocence and genuine love for camp life.

[The Hollyoaks actor overcame his fear of snakes and competed many challenges on the ITV series]

The Hollyoaks actor overcame his fear of snakes and competed many challenges on the ITV series(Image: James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Owen asked Mike Tindall when he knew his wife Zara Phillips was a royal, fell for a wind up joke in camp that Chris Moyles had been a ballroom dancing champion and famously asked "whereabouts?" when he was told campmate Scarlette Douglas was "from A Place In The Sun", the TV programme.

Another amusing moment saw him say in a discussion about how to nod off: I just lay there, pretending to be asleep and then Im asleep.

He also took on his fair share of trials, revelling in running to the top of the Cyclone but being less happy 24 hours earlier when taking on the near-impossible Save Sorting Office with Chris Moyles where they managed just one star. He also triumphed in the Boiling Point trial Moyles couldn't do.

This meant a night without much food in camp and this was a huge problem for Owen through the series.

Before going into camp he told how he eats up to five meals a day because he goes to the gym a lot and admitted the rice and beans diet would be a "shock to the system".

And he could be regularly heard moaning and groaning about a lack of food.

In another conversation in camp he spoke about being skint as a student, living on cheap chicken in a tin meal before landing his role in Hollyoaks.

[Owen was a finalist alongside Lioness Jill Scott and Tory MP Matt Hancock]

Owen was a finalist alongside Lioness Jill Scott and Tory MP Matt Hancock(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

He said: "I was in uni making myself the most student meal, it cost me like 60p for this meal. My agent bells me and shes like, Hi Owen, Im really sorry but youre going to have to clear your schedule because you got the part. I was so gassed man! FaceTimed my mum."

There will be no return to those days for Owen now as it is understood a number of production companies have been in touch and TV and film roles could be on the cards if he does well in auditions. Hollyoaks will do well to keep him with his new found status.

Now he is out of the jungle, Owen will get to spend time with his thrilled family including his parents and two brothers who all flew out to Australia and are also stunned to see him come out on top.

Speaking last week his mum Polly said: "I miss him like you wouldn't believe. I talk to him three times a day and he FaceTimed me on the flight to Australia.

"It's the longest we've been apart. It is really difficult because I like to know what hes doing, he has a very different life to my other boys so I like to know where he is and that hes safe."

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