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Why Bernard Tomic wishes he'd never got into tennis.

Last night, Australia watched tennis bad boy Bernard Tomic enter the I’m A Celebrity jungle along with nine other celebrities.

Not exactly beloved by all, he promised we’d see a different side to him in the jungle.

And we’ve been given a taster of the Tomic behind the public tantrums and slanging matches. In an interview with Carrie Bickmore for The Project, the former world number 17, got candid about how he really feels about the sport that made him famous.

In fact, he wishes he’d never got into tennis to begin with.

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When Carries asked, “Do you wish you’d never got into tennis to start with?” he answered, “Yeah, probably. Yeah. The grind with everything, you know, it’s taken 18 years already and it’s stressful. It’s not easy. It’s a big job,” he said.

Unfortunately he doesn’t believe there’s an alternative.

“It’s been there since I was 8 years old and now I’m 25. I can’t do anything else. I haven’t studied to be a doctor or finished my degrees. I knew only one thing, to play tennis,” he said.

tomic's dad ashamed
Image: Getty
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When told he was only young and could always go back to study, he said it wasn't for him.

"I know, I know, I could but I don't think I'm the best person to go back and study. I don't have the patience for that," he said.

"I'm not a super motivated person but tennis motivates me a lot. I don't love it but I like it a lot. I need to do it as best as I can and now I need to work hard and become a top 5, top 10 play and win a slam or too."

LISTEN: Andrew Daddo speaks to us about what REALLY happens behind the scenes on I'm A Celeb. Post continues after audio.

He also admitted regret over that comment about "counting his millions" that saw many of his fellow camp mates poke fun at him.

"It is something I said. During the heat of qualifying, I in the heat of the moment I said that, and I regretted it probably five minutes later."

So will Bernard Tomic change public perception like Steve Price and Brendan Fevola have done before him? Time will tell.