Hollyoaks' Malique Thompson-Dwyer has opened up about the most difficult part of venturing into the jungle for I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! — and it's not the bug trials!
The actor is not only taking a break from his role as Prince McQueen on the Channel 4 soap, but he's also having to leave behind his 1-year-old daughter back in the UK for at least the next several weeks.
"I'm already missing her," he told Digital Spy. "It's going to be one of the hardest things to not be able to talk to her or FaceTime her.
"That's going to be really hard. Not being able to even look at a picture of her is going to be tough as well."
Because his daughter is so young, she won't be able to travel to Oz even if Malique is one of the early outs on I'm a Celebrity. Luckily, the actor does have some family on the way.
"[My daughter is] not going to be coming out to Australia," he explained. "She's going to be staying at home with her mum. But my mum's coming out to Australia."
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The prospect of finding love in the jungle is also a possibility for Malique, since he admitted to us that he's not had time for dating back home in the UK recently.
"I'm single," he teased. "I wouldn't say I'm looking for love, but if it happens it happens. If I see a nice female, then I might crack on but I don't know. We'll have to see."
As for his ambitions post-I'm a Celebrity, the actor isn't ruling out trying to crack America: "Thinking about it, it would be lovely for me to go to Hollywood. That's an ambition of a lot of actors – but I'd also love to do dramas as well.
"I've been watching lots of dramas recently. I watched Luther not too long ago and I'd love to do something like that. I think the UK is great at drama, so I wouldn't mind staying here for work – but Hollywood is a dream of mine for sure. I guess it depends on what happens next."
Hollyoaks airs Mondays through Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first-look episodes airing at 7pm on E4.
Declan Donnelly and Holly Willoughby host the premiere of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! on Sunday (November 18) at 9pm on ITV.
Read more news, spoilers and gossip on our Hollyoaks homepage
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
