Giulia Siegel is out of the jungle camp: “Motherly feelings” for Elena Miras

On “I’m a Celebrity – Showdown of the Jungle Legends”, Giulia Siegel (49) fell out with almost all of her fellow campers. The iron hand with which the DJ held the wooden spoon at the campfire and simply refused to let it go was not well received – nor were her constant violations of the rules disguised under the guise of generosity.

On day eleven, this proved to be her downfall: everyone except Georgina Fleur (34) – including her supposed camp accomplices Mola Adebisi (51) and Eric Stehfest (35) – voted for her to leave the jungle camp. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, Siegel sums up her second attempt in the jungle, her tough boot camp and her relationship with arch enemy Elena Miras (35).

How have you coped with being fired?

Giulia Siegel: I haven’t yet emotionally come to terms with the dismissal. The shows on RTL are still going on with little sleep, it will take another week until it’s all over. And only then can you really process it emotionally. At the moment you’re just holding yourself up a bit and trying to function.

Did it surprise you that the other campers wanted to “get rid of” you?

Siegel: It was clear from the moment everyone said I should cook that the others wanted to get rid of me – and then a few ladies said I wasn’t allowed to cook. They wanted to get rid of people one by one and they succeeded. It was clear from the start that I would be the next to be eliminated, no matter what I did. Unfortunately, there were no safety games, it was fate.

Mola Adebisi also surprisingly voted for you to leave, citing health concerns about her “stomach pains”. How seriously do you take this explanation?

Siegel: I was a little disappointed with Mola. The explanations in the shows: “She doesn’t feel comfortable here anymore” or “She’s sick” – that’s complete nonsense. Everyone knew that I was bursting with energy. That’s why I thought it was a shame, he should have just said: “I still want to stay here.” I think that would be nicer, what he said was an unreflective statement. With Eric, on the other hand, I agreed from the beginning: ‘Please don’t take my side, you should keep rocking this whole thing with Georgina. If you take my side now, you’ll be the next one to be bullied out. Otherwise you’ll have just as hard a time here as me, Hanka, Georgina or David.’

The show has been filmed for some time now. Have you been in contact with your fellow campers since then?

Siegel: I am in daily contact with Hanka and Georgina, with Eric every 48 hours and actually with Mola too.

Her biggest opponent in the camp was Elena Miras…

Siegel: No, not at all! I was with Elena for seven weeks in Thailand on another show and also in quarantine – I find her really funny, funny, too loud, too quick-tempered. I also said to her: ‘If you yell at me, don’t be mad at me, I have to go and laugh because I have to think of a quick-tempered child.’ No matter what Elena says or says, I can’t take it too seriously. I find her amusing, I think she’s perhaps a bit too aggressive and quick-tempered, but for me that’s the way she is and I like that about her. She’s very entertaining. I still find her cool and funny because I’ve analyzed her well. Even if she hates me, I like her.

So if you meet her now, everything is fine from your side, but not the other way around?

Siegel: In recent years, when Elena was on shows, I always sent her a voice message and said: ‘You did a great job.’ If I saw her now, I would say exactly the same thing: ‘Elena, come on, don’t be so hot-tempered, don’t be so aggressive, calm down a bit.’ I have a lot of motherly feelings for her, I just want to hug her. She reminds me a bit of myself when I was younger. What she does is crazy, definitely, I don’t agree with that either, but I can separate it and really have motherly feelings for her.

You were the head cook in the camp for a long time – this often led to heated arguments. Is it more peaceful in your private kitchen?

Siegel: Well, it’s relatively simple. When I host a dinner or a barbecue at home, a few girls come and ask: ‘Giulia, what should we do? Cut the carrots into pieces, slice the potatoes…’ It’s a collaboration in a kitchen that’s normal. In a large kitchen, everyone has their tasks. And when you’re asked how something is done, you answer. But when I was asked something and then answered, the response was: ‘You know everything better.’ When I did something in the jungle, it was wrong; if I didn’t do anything, it was wrong; if I didn’t answer, it was wrong; if I answered, it was wrong – that was really annoying. But I have to admit: the way you see it on average, it comes across as really annoying, but in reality it was much worse. Because there are ten people standing around you, nine of them want you to cook, others interfere, are bored, watch you…

So did the editing not accurately portray what happened in the jungle?

Siegel: The editing showed 80 percent of everything as it was. Of course, subjectively, I would have liked to see more often how often I was asked for tips when cooking and then, when I answered, it was assumed that I knew everything better. But overall, it reflected the emotions quite well and was entertaining. The first time I was on Jungle Camp, the cooking was actually much worse – but not so much that it got you worked up, because in the kitchen everyone has their own tasks.

When you left, you told us about an extensive preparation program that you had set yourself before the camp. What exactly did that look like?

Siegel: Everyone knows their shortcomings: I’m afraid of heights and don’t like being in confined spaces – unfortunately, I developed all of that through “The Summer House of the Stars”. So I went to the climbing garden, walked over stones with three-year-old children until I was at a height. Then I went to the climbing park so that I could know what it feels like to fall and be caught by a rope. I did hypnotherapy to help me overcome my fear of spiders – but unfortunately that didn’t work. I can hold any rat or snake in my hand, but I have a problem with spiders. So unfortunately that was money for nothing. I asked myself how I could go into the jungle with energy and without feeling hungry, so I started fasting five days before I went in, because the energy boost comes from the fifth day. I also learned all the general knowledge about South Africa in case any questions arise. I also downloaded an app with math problems so I could do math faster. I prepared myself like I would for a job interview, where I go into a company and know what the company expects of me.

But you still didn’t make it to the jungle queen stage. Would you give it a third try?

Siegel: I would get on a plane right now. I would also do the jungle for four or five weeks. No problem, anytime again, immediately.

Is there a feared enemy you might encounter?

Siegel: I don’t have any enemies that I’m afraid of. My worst enemy is when a group is against you, that’s problematic. I’ve had really nice, pleasant one-on-one conversations with everyone there, that’s not a problem at all. I’m actually a complete team player, but when a whole team attacks you, it’s difficult. So I’m definitely afraid of the group, I don’t want to experience that again. But I don’t have any enemies that I’m afraid of. There are five people on German TV that I don’t like very much, I admit that, I wouldn’t want to be with them – but otherwise I’m just afraid of the group.