"He's killing it." I'm a Celebrity's Nikki Osborne on the reality of raising a son with autism.

Australian comedian Nikki Osborne has spoken about the fear and intense pride that can come with raising a child with autism.

Currently competing on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, the 38-year-old shared her experience of parenting her youngest son Teddy, who was diagnosed with the developmental disorder when he was four years old.

The mum-of-two acknowledged the initial difficulty that came with the “not knowing” how her son would be affected by the condition but said it ultimately became the “biggest blessing”.

“It was just really scary at the start,” said Osborne, tearing up.

“Being told that your son mightn’t speak or interact when they’re a baby is quite a shock and it’s just the not knowing how they’re going to be.

“You are just so terrified what their life’s going to be like and we just had no idea.

“It was hard at the start but what we thought was going to be the hardest part of our lives turned out to be the biggest blessing.”

Watch Nikki Osborne talk about her son Teddy on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here. Post continues below.

However, three years after his initial diagnosis, Nikki said Teddy, now seven, is “killing it”.

“He is an angel. He’s killing it. He’s got a girlfriend, he’s ahead in school, killing it, and all his therapists just go he is unbelievable. He’s had an amazing turnaround.”

“My husband was so good through all of it,” she continued.

“We were so scared. And we were talking about it and my husband’s sitting there, we’ve had a cry and he just goes, ‘F**k normal’.”

 

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We’re house sitting and Teddy fell in love with a dog toy they have. Knowing he couldn’t keep it, I took to eBay to try and find the same as he’s never attached to a “Teddy” before (ironic I know). SUCCESS! It was pure joy when the postman came today. Yay. #ebay #autismawareness

A post shared by Nikki Osborne (@nikkiosborneofficial) on Dec 29, 2017 at 3:30am PST

In 2018, the Brisbane mum-of-two created a stand-up show based on her family’s experience with autism, called On The Spectrum. Speaking to Mamamia at the time she said she wanted to challenge people’s perception of the disorder.

“I thought, ‘You know what, I’m going to use my platform of stand-up to take my blogs to the stage. I can entertain parents, carers, etc, but also take the topic to a larger audience in less of a doom-and-gloom format. I can put autism out there as something that’s not scary,’” she said.

Although her initial decision to tour the show was met with controversy – in fact, it led to her being dropped as a speaker at the Source Kids Disability Expo in Brisbane – she told her fellow campmates that she was blown away by the warm response she received.

“It is a good one but it took a lot out of me because I got trolled a lot,” said the comedian on Monday night’s episode of I’m a Celeb.

“What was beautiful with the show is that so many people on the spectrum came and all the carers came. At the end of the show everyone’s balling their eyes out but we’ve all had a big laugh.”

“It’s one of those shows where you come out at the end and they all lineup and they all tell me their stories,” she continued.

“It helps people because there’s a lot of carers having a real sh*t time and a lot of people on the spectrum just don’t feel like people can laugh with them.”

Have you been watching I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here? Who’s your favourite contestant? Tell us in a comment below.

Feature image: Instagram/@nikkiosborneofficial.

For more on this topic, check out:

• An Aussie mum who is trying to make autism “not scary” says she is being silenced.
• An Aussie TV icon and MAFS groom: Every contestant in the I’m A Celebrity jungle.
• “It’s brutal.” Julia Morris on what I’m A Celebrity is really like behind the scenes.