Lisa Riley has revealed that she lost a staggering twenty pounds during her time in the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! jungle, after surviving on a strict diet of rice and beans.
The Emmerdale actress, 49, became the eighth star to leave the jungle on Friday night, after she and Jack Osbourne were both voted out in a dramatic double elimination.
Following her exit, Lisa looked radiant as she posed for fresh-faced photographs, proudly showing off her post-jungle transformation while opening up about the surprising reality behind her weight loss.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Lisa explained that it wasn’t just the limited food rations that saw the pounds drop — but also the relentless pace of jungle life.
“Do you know what it is? It’s portion control,” she said. “Everyone says, ‘Oh, it’s beans and rice.’ Yes, it is beans and rice — but it’s actually what you consume.
“When you’re in there, people don’t really understand the lifestyle, the geography of the camp. It’s the do-ability. It’s the activeness.”
She continued: “When you go up to the Telegraph to talk, it’s step after step. When you go to a challenge, you never stop moving. It’s endless. It’s not just sitting around a campfire having loads of giggles.
“The activeness… by the time you’ve consumed the beans at night, you’ve probably burned it off.”
While Lisa confirmed she was often hungry, she insisted she was never truly starving.
“I’ve never ever been in Ethiopia — I was not starving,” she said. “Yes, there were times I was really hungry, but by the time you’ve come back from the challenge, then the food basket’s coming down and everything starts to cook.”
As a vegetarian, Lisa’s meals were slightly adjusted compared to her campmates.
“For me, because I’m vegetarian, my veggie meal was always padded out with more rice anyway,” she explained. “Do I want to see rice again? No thanks. Rice and me are game over.”
While others tucked into crocodile or eel, Lisa was given meat-free alternatives including Quorn and tofu.
“I’m so lucky,” she said. “I had things like Quorn chicken strips, Quorn mince, tempeh — never again — and tofu.
“When I was cooking right at the beginning, I used to boil it. Now I realise you’ve got to pan-fry it.”
Reflecting on her jungle journey, Lisa admitted the experience exceeded all expectations.
“It’s everything I wanted it to be and so much more,” she gushed. “Even just then, me and Al were watching little clips on YouTube — probably less than fifteen minutes worth — and now I’m seeing what everyone’s seen. I’ve just been me from start to finish.
“I’ve obviously created a lot of fun, a lot of laughter, and been allowed to be myself.”
Lisa also opened up about her playful flirtation with I’m A Celebrity host Ant McPartlin, insisting her long-term partner Al has absolutely nothing to worry about.
“I’m a flirt. I flirt with everybody. That’s who I am. I’m not going to stop,” she laughed. “But I’m so secure in my relationship. I know who I go home to every night, who loves me and who I love.”
She joked: “I said that basically Dec would give you a Horlicks or a hot chocolate and tuck you in. Whereas Ant? Yeah — he’s juicy. I’ve said that all along.
“I called him Juicy. Any red-blooded woman would say Ant is juicy, and he looks really well. He looks gorgeous.”
Confirming her devotion to partner Al, she added with a grin: “I am in a very, very, very happy relationship. I couldn’t be happier. But as I always say — you can go to Waitrose, you don’t have to buy anything.”
Speaking after her departure during Friday’s episode, Lisa also reflected on embracing the role of the jungle’s “mother figure”.
“I’ve not been lucky enough to be a mother in life and if I was the jungle mum — bring it on,” she said.
“We have all been through something in our lives and you can share it. If I can be mumma bear in the jungle, then I’m more than happy with that role.
“Aitch and Ginge — they were my naughty little brothers. They let me be the real me.”
