THE lesser-known half of Team GB’s Olympic gold winning synchronised diving team, Matty Lee is out to make a name for himself.
His diving partner and best friend Tom Daley was already a star figure before the Tokyo Games in the summer, so Matty was shocked to discover he had been asked to join this year’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in Abergele.
“I’ve had a great year so far, I obviously made my dreams come true and became an Olympic champion with Tom,” he said.
“I was like, ‘no way, get out of here, no way are they interested about me going on I’m a Celeb’.
“Nothing prepares you for an Olympic gold medal, and then all of a sudden you’re asked to go on a show that I literally grew up watching. It’s kind of wild, and I’m so grateful to be asked to go on it.”
The ITV show is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those who go on it but for Matty it is also the chance to relax after two years of intense Olympics training.
“You don’t always get this opportunity outside of diving, so it’s nice to do something different,” he said. “Also to get a name for myself as well. [Tom] is always supportive of that, he’s always helped to try and build my name instead of me just being his competition partner.
“I had the opportunity to do sequence with Tom which was a dream come true and then luckily our relationship flourished and we became best friends.
“It would be nice to build a name for myself, and it’s only fair. I was 50 per cent of the team.”
Matty said a different side of his personality will be apparent during the show, as the only times he has been on television previously were at the height of competition, where there is little time to relax.
“People just see the athlete version of me which is serious and in the zone, especially in the Olympics,” he said. “I’m in the most high pressured environment of my life so obviously I’m not going to be showing my true colours, just got my head down and trying to compete.
“I’m quite confident that I’m a likeable person.”
It will be difficult for Matty to completely switch off from diving, however, as the 2024 Paris Olympics are already a “priority”, despite being distant on the horizon. He had to seek approval from his coach and national performance director to go on the ITV show, and he will continue to train during the camp depending on the success of the camp’s Bushtucker Trials.
“I was so nervous to ask [for permission] as they had the final say, but they were all really on board,” said Matty.
“Some things don’t come round again and you have to take it all in your stride.
“There will be a calorie deficit, and because we’re not eating that much I’ve been told if we don’t get all the stars and all the meals, if we’re literally just eating rice and beans, I’m not to do any workouts because then instead of burning calories I end up burning muscle mass, and that’s the last thing you want.
“The Paris Olympics is quite an important year, but I’ve just trained for five years non-stop, and especially the last two years with lockdown and Covid I trained my butt off, so it’s quite nice to be able to step away a little bit and enjoy something that’s not diving.”
Matty is looking forward to getting to know people from different backgrounds, having spent so much of his time with fellow divers, who share his interest and are usually around the same age.
His camp mates include former BBC presenter Louise Minchin, Radio 1Xtra DJ Snoochie Shy, Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley and The Saturdays’ Frankie Bridge.
“It will be quite interesting to see how I get on with people I don’t know, people who have different professions, different ages,” he said. “I think it will be really strange but I’m really looking forward to it.
“You hear everyone say after every season of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! that they come back a family and I’m just excited for that.”
He is also excited about the location, and believes a “dark, dingy castle” in North Wales could pose a greater challenge than the warmer if more venomous climes of the Australian jungle.
“It’s almost more gruesome, an actual real castle,” he said. “I’ve not seen the castle yet, and I don’t think I’ve been to Wales yet; it’s the first time I’ve been. It’s a shame as obviously I’ve been isolating in a nice cottage for the past few weeks and I haven’t really got to see anything apart from the journey in, which was quite scenic.
“I’m actually looking forward to the journey to the castle. I’m looking forward to staying in the castle. Who doesn’t love a castle? I think it’s quite cool.”
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! will be broadcast on ITV1 at 9pm on Sunday, November 21.
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