The first episode of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! is precisely always awkward.
Mostly, because despite their celebrity status, a majority of the contestants have absolutely no idea who the others are… but they know they’re definitely meant to.
But last night’s premiere of I’m a Celebrity season four was more uncomfortable than usual – and it had a lot to do with a 25-year-old man named Bernard Tomic.
You see, the professional tennis player is absolutely a household name. But… that name is usually preceded by an expletive and followed by a rant about being a stain on our international reputation.
The world number 142 (who was, at his height, ranked number 17) lost his qualifier against world number 218 at the Australian Open, only a few weeks ago.
“I just count money, that’s all I do. I count my millions,” he said to journalists following his loss.
“You go do what I did [on court]. Bye bye.”
Tennis great Andy Roddick was among the many who criticised his comments.
LISTEN: Is Bernard Tomic a bratty rich sports star, or his behaviour really a cry for help? We discuss, on Mamamia Out Loud.
Last year, Tomic said he was “bored” during his Wimbledon match, with Pat Cash responding that a lot of Aussies were cringing at the young man’s behaviour.
Indeed, the look on some celebrity’s faces when they realised they were going to be stuck in the jungle with Tomic, suggested they too had done their fair share of cringing.
There were three not-so-subtle digs at the bad boy of tennis that if anything indicate this is going to be a very, very interesting season of I’m a Celebrity.
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The moment Kerry Armstrong saw Tomic.
Among the first words Armstrong, star of SeaChange, Lantana and most recently, The Wrong Girl, said to Tomic were, “Can you lend me some money?”.
It seemed the joke went over Tomic’s head.
“Can you lend me some money” – strong start @ArmstrongKerry1 ???? #ImACelebrityAU
— #ImACelebrityAU (@ImACelebrityAU) January 28, 2018
Top Comments
"Come for the cash, has he?" - let's be honest Pete, that's the only reason *any* of you are there! I'd say that it's a PR move to try and repair his reputation a bit. Let people see the 'real Bernard', rather than the loudmouth brat. Be interesting to see if he can manage to keep his foot out of his mouth.