After failing to qualify for the Australian Open this month, the first time he’s missed a Grand Slam tournament in seven years, Aussie tearaway Bernard Tomic has revealed his next gig, heading to to South Africa to join the cast of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.
The 25-year-old was strongly rumoured to be a contestant on the upcoming fourth season of the show – a few weeks back, there were reports that he’d been “bragging” to fellow Aussie players about being offered a seven-figure sum to spend a few weeks eating bugs in the jungle.
According to him, though, he’s not doing it for the cash, but for the chance to rehabilitate his public image. He told News Corp:
“It is not for the money. I am doing this because it is something I always wanted to do in my life. This is reality, nothing can hide, this is 24 hour cameras and you are on your own and then the public can see who you really are. They (people) know me as this tennis player that is crazy and has done this or that or has problems. Hopefully I get the chance to change their image about me on this show and that is one of the reasons I’m doing it.”
Asked whether he’d reached a career crossroads after Italian Lorenzo Sonego knocked him out of qualification for this year’s Australian Open, Tomic replied:
“I just count money, that’s all I do. I count my millions. You go do what I did (on court). Bye bye. You go make 13-14 million (dollars). Good luck guys.”
Things like that may or may not be part of the “image” he’s referring to.
Retired AFL player Josh Gibson will join Bernard Tomic on the show, which premieres tonight, and actress Kerry Armstrong of The Wrong Girl and SeaChange will also be taking part.
The other contestants have yet to be revealed, but The Nanny actress Fran Drescher and Silverchair‘s Ben Gillies are rumoured to be among them.
